Mumbai, Dec. 14: The Maharashtra government has set up a panel named “Intercaste/Interfaith marriage-family coordination committee (state level)” to gather information about couples in such marriages, according to a government resolution which was issued on Tuesday by the state’s Women and Child Development (WCD) Department, The Indian Express reported.
The panel will be headed by BJP leader and state’s WCD Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, and will comprise 12 other members, who will be chosen from government and non-government sectors.
The resolution stated that the committee will oversee district-level initiatives for women in such marriages who may be estranged from their maternal families so that assistance can be provided if there is a need.
This initiative by the Eknath Shinde-led government will provide a platform for the women in intercaste/interfaith marriages and their families to access counselling, and communicate or resolve issues.
The committee has been assigned to hold meetings with district officials, and review work on seven parameters, including, gathering information about interfaith or inter-caste marriages from stamp duty and registrar offices, and collect information on such registered or unregistered marriages, among others.
In November, following the gruesome murder of Shraddha Walkar allegedly by her partner Aaftab Poonawala in Delhi, Minister Lodha had directed the state women’s panel commissioner to set up a special squad so as to identify women who got married without the support from their family, and extend support or even protection, if required.
