Gold to be Gifted to Every Bride, Per New Government Scheme

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A state government in India has launched a new scheme, by which every adult bride will be gifted 10 grams of gold. The scheme launched by the government of Assam will take effect in January 2020.

According to government press release, the scheme is named ‘Arundhati Gold Scheme’. The gift will be given only to brides who are matriculates and for marriages that are registered as per law. Also, the bride and groom should have completed legal ages of 18 and 21 years respectively, to be eligible for the gift. Further, bride’s annual family income must be less than INR 5 lakhs. Also, gold will be gifted only for the first marriage.

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As the gold prices keeps fluctuating, the government has decided to credit bride’s account with a fixed sum of INR 30,000, solely for the purpose of buying gold. The gold purchase receipt has to be deposited with the marriage sub-registrar. The amount will be reviewed later, if gold prices rise further.

Announcing the decision, Himanta Biswa Sarma, state finance minister noted that the scheme has already obtained cabinet approval. Also, a sum of INR 300 crore has been earmarked for the first three months (Jan-Mar ’20), which fall in this fiscal year. The scheme is introduced with the aim of promoting women empowerment and education and curbing child marriage and unregistered marriages.