4 min readRaipurApr 24, 2023 08:28 PM IST
First published on: Apr 23, 2023 at 05:35 PM IST
The Opposition Congress Sunday alleged that the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government made more than 200 women take ‘pregnancy tests’ while checking their eligibility for a scheme that provides a marriage grant of Rs 55,000 per couple. While the state government has not yet issued a statement on the matter, a local BJP leader said the women were only put through a ‘fitness test’, during which some were found to have been pregnant.
Under the scheme, the government gives Rs 49,000 to each woman eligible for the marriage scheme, and spends another Rs 6,000 per couple for arranging a mass marriage ceremony. The tests were conducted ahead of a mass marriage ceremony in a town in Dindori district Saturday.
The tests were conducted ahead of a mass marriage ceremony in a town in Dindori district Saturday. (Express)
Local MLA Omkar Singh Markam of the Congress said he received information that the women were made to take a pregnancy test. Markam told The Indian Express, “I have information that four women who could not pass this test were not given benefits under the scheme. This is a violation of their basic rights and an invasion of their privacy. I will raise this issue before the Chief Minister as well as the Prime Minister.”
“The government must clarify if there are any laws for such tests,” he said.
In a video, BJP district chief Avadh Raj Bilaiya said the tests were done to check for health issues such as sickle cell anaemia.
“Under the Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana, a medical test is done to check girls’ fitness. In our district, there are many problems like sickle cell anaemia… So, generally, all kinds of tests are done… When the test was done, a few women were found pregnant and, in such a situation, we assumed they were married and we did not allow them to marry,” he said.
Under the scheme, the government gives Rs 49,000 to each woman eligible for the marriage scheme, and spends another Rs 6,000 per couple for arranging a mass marriage ceremony. (Express)
Speaking to The Indian Express, Dindori Collector Vikas Mishra said the pregnancy tests were conducted on five women who, while they were being tested for sickle cell anaemia, said they had missed their periods.
“There is a miscommunication here. In our district, sickle cell anaemia is a major disease and there are government of India guidelines for doing blood tests. So, whenever we do such marriages, we do this test. In this case, when the tests were being done, five women said they had missed their periods. Then, the doctor did a urine test, that is, a pregnancy test, and in all five cases the test was positive, after which the women said they were already married,” he said.
While there is no bar on pregnant women availing of the scheme, Mishra said, “The rule is the woman should not be already married. Sometimes it happens that the couple are married and could not avail of the scheme, so they try to get married again to avail the benefit.”
He said the administration does not do any ‘virginity tests’ or pregnancy tests on women who want to avail the scheme. “There are no such tests done by us. The women themselves said they missed their periods.”
The state government gives Rs 49,000 to each woman eligible for the marriage scheme. (Express File Photo/Representative Image) 
The tests were conducted ahead of a mass marriage ceremony in a town in Dindori district Saturday. (Express)
Under the scheme, the government gives Rs 49,000 to each woman eligible for the marriage scheme, and spends another Rs 6,000 per couple for arranging a mass marriage ceremony. (Express)
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