Will the real opposition to dowry stand up please?

This is the response received to an RTI application filed on Women and Child Development Ministry.  According to this RTI response, WCD ministry has not spent a single Rupee on any advertisement campaign against dowry, or extravagant marriages in Apr 2009-Mar 2010.

RTI response is also given in PDF format below:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2371641/RTIs_SIFF/WCD-RTI-anti-dowry-exp-marriage.pdf

This is the same WCD ministry which had bungled and carried out an advertisement issued on the occasion of the National Girl Child Day that carried a photograph of the former Pakistan Air Force chief, Tanvir Ahmed Mahmood.

So it seems they WCD does not spend any money on reducing dowry and extravagant marriages… and when they do spend money on a women’s issue, it is bungled so badly that Prime minister’s office (PMO) has to issue an apology on behalf of WCD.

Real reason why government wants ‘dowry evil’ to continue!

When there were few deaths of students due to ragging, there was much outcry and government showed its resolve to put an end to ragging by establishing an anti-ragging helpline.  See the information on anti-ragging helpline on website of department of higher education below:

http://www.education.nic.in/UHE/Antiragging.asp

Further the complaints on the number can be made in 10 languages.

Now our government is really ashamed of dowry deaths as per news below:

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-71390.html

New Delhi, Mar 16 : Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar today said dowry death is a shame and a blot on the society.

Ms Kumar's observation came during Question Hour.

Earlier, Home Minister P Chidambaram emphasised that people who kill their young wives for the sake of dowry have to be punished.

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So after having been ashamed enough, what better can government do to prevent dowry deaths?

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You guessed it: start an anti-dowry helpline number in all Indian languages.

Anyone will be able to complain about any dowry giving in any wedding they happen to see.  In fact a small reward can be given to ‘informants’ and their identity can be kept secret so that they don’t have to face the ignominy of possibly breaking a marriage.

Will the government do it?  No.  Indians (parents of bride and bridegroom)  save for marriages and then splurge it around the marriage time.  This spending pattern means that many consumer goods and such industries are highly dependent on marriage spending.  It is in region of 50,000 crores per year and growing at 25% per year as per news below:

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/when-wedding-loans-toll-on-portals/226659/

According to industry estimates, the Indian wedding market is worth Rs 50,000 crore and is growing at 25 % annually.

Depending on the size and grandeur, a wedding can cost anywhere between Rs 5 lakh-10 crore.

So curbing on dowry would mean all kind of gift-giving will have to be curbed.  That can work in foreign countries where couples save for their own needs for when they get married.  And then they may buy goods slowly over time rather than in one go.  In India however, the marriage spending is done primarily by parents since it is thought of as their responsibility by traditions.

If gift giving is curbed, then many industries will get hit hard and they will not want government to enact any real measure to stop dowry!