Marriage registration becoming a tradition in char areas

RANGPUR, Mar 24 (BSS): Marriage registration has been turning into a tradition in the remote char areas on the Brahmaputra basin now eradicating superstitions though it was unbelievable even a decade ago.
The things are changing fast as the char people are overcoming social curses like child marriages, dowry and polygamy and arranging marriages of their sons and daughters now with proper registration.
Besides, the char people, who were married some 10 to 50 years back or even earlier, are now registering their marriages though the cent percent wedding was child marriage without registration even a decade ago.
The success has been achieved following motivational activities being conducted by different NGOs as implementing organisations of the Chars Livelihood Programme (CLP) since 2004 in the riverine char areas.
According to official sources, the UKaid through the Department for International Development, Australian Government through Australian Agency for International Development have been funding implementation of the CLP activities.
The comprehensive CLP activities are being conducted to eradicate abject poverty of the have-nots group char families through improving their livelihoods to change their socioeconomic conditions.
Head of Programme Coordination Monjusree Saha of RDRS Bangladesh, one of the implementing organisations, said the char people had lived in utter poverty for decades together, but they are now achieving socioeconomic uplift to lead meaningful life.
Recently, 70 aged couples of Khamar Banspatari char village on the Brahmaputra bed in Chilmari upazila made a history through registering their marriages after many years to make the government's Charter for Changes programme successful.
On the occasion, RDRS Bangladesh under the CLP activities organised a Community Fair on Khhordo Banspatari Registered Non-government Primary School premises to make the late marriage registration programme successful.
A number of CLP beneficiary husbands and wives in the ceremony narrated harmful impacts of the century-old social curses and superstitions in char areas though they could not even think about marriage registrations and marriages at right ages in the past.
Later, marriage registrars Alef Uddin and Tofazzal Hossain registered marriages of 70 couples aged between 30 and 75 years and each of the couples were given new dresses and ornaments to make the occasion memorable.