LUCKNOW, INDIA, May 19, 2002: More than 300 girls and boys in the city submitted applications for the match-making process which was conducted at the Sahu Shital Dharmasala on Sunday. The program, organized by the Sahu Rathod Mahila Chetna Samiti, aims at making the marriage ceremony less expensive though the holding of mass marriages. For parents with low incomes, marriages are a big economic problem. The Samiti has organized trips to rural and semi-urban areas of the state to motivate families to save on unnecessary expenditures during marriages and to enroll them in the program. The Samiti charges US$167 from the boy and the girl to arrange for the ceremony, ornaments, bridal wear, furniture and other essentials. Last year, the Samiti arranged eight marriages. This year they made a decision to invite more boys than girls to submit their names for match-making, in order to provide the girls a better selection for a life-partner. As a result, about two hundred boys and one hundred girls applied.
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