Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana

What is Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana?

Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana is a marriage assistance scheme of the Madhya Pradesh Social Justice and Divyangjan Empowerment Department that has been in operation since 1 April 2006. The scheme, written in Hindi as मुख्यमंत्री कन्या विवाह योजना and administered for Muslim brides under the parallel name Mukhyamantri Nikah Yojana, pays a cash amount to a bride from a poor or destitute family who marries in a collective marriage ceremony organised by her local body.

According to the scheme entry on the Madhya Pradesh CM Helpline scheme dashboard, the assistance is Rs 49,000 to the bride, paid by account payee cheque, with a further Rs 6,000 per couple paid to the organising body to cover the cost of running the ceremony. The two together make the state's outlay Rs 55,000 per couple. Applications are processed on the state vivah portal at vivahportal.mp.gov.in, and the local body, not the family, makes the online entry.

What the scheme sets out to do

• Remove the cost of a wedding as a reason for families to fall into debt.
• Discourage child marriage by tying the money strictly to the legal marriage ages of 18 for the bride and 21 for the groom.
• Give widowed, divorced and abandoned women a supported route to remarriage.
• Replace expensive individual weddings with dignified collective ceremonies organised by the panchayat or the municipality.

Note that several district administration pages still carry an older benefit structure of Rs 28,000 split into Rs 17,000 for setting up the household, Rs 5,000 for jewellery and utensils, Rs 3,000 for a smartphone and Rs 3,000 to the organiser. That was the earlier pattern. The current figure published on the state scheme dashboard is Rs 49,000 to the bride plus Rs 6,000 to the organiser, so confirm the amount in force with your janpad panchayat before applying.

Who is eligible for Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana?

A bride qualifies if:

• She, or her parents, are residents of Madhya Pradesh.
• She has completed 18 years of age on the date of marriage.
• The groom has completed 21 years of age on the date of marriage.
• She is a poor or destitute girl, a widow, a divorced woman or an abandoned woman.
• She is marrying in a collective marriage ceremony organised by a janpad panchayat, municipal council or municipal corporation.

Divorced women are eligible on producing the legal document establishing the divorce. All social categories; General, OBC, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe: are covered, and there is no caste restriction. According to the scheme dashboard, no income restriction is applied.

You cannot apply if:

• The marriage is being held privately at home or in a hall, outside a government-organised collective ceremony. This is the exclusion that catches the largest number of families.
• The bride is under 18 or the groom is under 21 on the date of marriage.
• Neither the bride nor her parents are residents of Madhya Pradesh.
• The same bride has already drawn the benefit for an earlier marriage under the scheme.
• The claim is filed after the collective ceremony has been held and the local body's list closed, since the bride's name must be on the registered list of couples for that event.

What documents are required?

How to apply for Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana

1. Find out when the next collective marriage ceremony is being organised in your area. In rural areas the janpad panchayat announces it; in urban areas the municipal council or municipal corporation does.
2. Collect the prescribed application form — the department publishes it as "मुख्‍यमंत्री कन्‍या विवाह योजना हेतु आवेदन प्रारूप": from the janpad panchayat or municipal office, or download it from socialjustice.mp.gov.in.
3. Fill in the details of the bride and the groom, and attach the age proofs, residence proof, Samagra ID, Aadhaar and the bride's bank passbook copy. Widows attach the death certificate and divorced applicants the divorce decree.
4. Submit the completed form to the Chief Executive Officer, Janpad Panchayat, if you live in a rural area, or to the Municipal Commissioner or Chief Municipal Officer if you live in an urban area. There is no fee.
5. Wait for the verification committee's decision, which the scheme rules require within 15 working days. The approval or rejection order is generated from the vivah portal.
6. Attend the collective marriage ceremony on the notified date. The assistance is released against the marriage actually taking place at that event.

There is no self-service online application for a family. The vivah portal is the back-end used by the local body to register the couple, generate the sanction order and record the payment, so all documents go through the janpad panchayat or municipal office.

How is the money paid?

Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana pays the bride Rs 49,000 by account payee cheque drawn in her own name, which is why an account in her name is a mandatory document. Payment is made against the marriage having been solemnised at the registered collective ceremony, so the cheque follows the event rather than preceding it. The Rs 6,000 per couple paid to the organising local body is reimbursement for the cost of running the sammelan; food, pandal, arrangements, and does not reach the family as cash.

How to check your application status and what to do if rejected

1. Ask the janpad panchayat or municipal office that received your form for the status; the sanction and rejection orders are generated on vivahportal.mp.gov.in and are held there.
2. If the decision is not given within 15 working days, raise it with the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue) or on the CM Helpline at 181.
3. If the application is rejected, file an appeal with the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue) within 30 days of the order. This appeal right is built into the scheme rules.

Common reasons applications are rejected

• Marriage not held in a government-organised collective ceremony, the single largest cause.
• Bride under 18 or groom under 21 on the marriage date.
• Age proof that does not match across the marksheet, Aadhaar and Samagra record.
• Bank account not in the bride's own name, so an account payee cheque cannot be issued.
• Application submitted after the ceremony list closed for that event.
• Repeat claim by a bride who already received the assistance.

Most of these are fixable before the ceremony: correct the age record, open an account in the bride's name, and get the couple registered on the local body's list well before the announced last date.

Help and grievance redressal

• Directorate of Social Justice and Divyangjan Empowerment, Bhopal: 0755-2556916, dir.socialjustice@mp.gov.in
• CM Helpline: 181, for a tracked written complaint routed to the district social justice officer
• Local level: Chief Executive Officer, Janpad Panchayat, in rural areas; Municipal Commissioner or Chief Municipal Officer in urban areas
• Appeal: Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue), within 30 days of a rejection

Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana is free from start to finish. No official or middleman may charge for the form, for inclusion in the collective ceremony, or for release of the cheque.