Getting married? You may just end up with a congratulatory card signed by Kerala Minister for Women and Child Development Veena George. The card also comes with a reminder against accepting or giving dowry.
The Women and Child Development Department is behind the initiative targeted at those intending to tie the knot or the newlyweds. The cards may reach the hands of prospective couples from the auditorium they are about to book for the wedding or the police station they visit to seek permissions in the wake of COVID-19 restrictions. They are intended to carry anti-dowry message to the public as also that of gender equality in marriages.
The Minister’s card that begins with best wishes to the bride and groom urges them to be agents of change and steadfast in rejecting dowry and gender inequality in their life together. It calls on them to become a model to others by pledging against receiving, asking for, or giving dowry and building their marriage on gender equality.
The cards are being distributed through the block-level Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) offices in each district. In Thiruvananthapuram alone, 5,000 cards have been printed. They are then taken to all parts of the district through ICDS supervisors and anganwadi workers from where they reach auditoriums and other places likely to be frequented in connection with wedding preparations.
