December 29, 2002	Sunday	Shawwal 24, 1423

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LAHORE, Dec 28: A large number of nikah (marriage) registrars have been deprived of a lucrative source of income in the wake of the government decision to devolve marriage registration to the union council level and resisting its implementation.

Nikah registration has been devolved from the district to the union council level recently with no role for the private registrars. People are now required to buy the nikah forms from the union council chairmen against Rs200 after providing the particulars of the brides and the grooms, get the marriage solemnized from any suitable person and return the duly filled forms for registration.

Nikah registrars are reluctant to accept the decision and hand over their records to the chairmen of the union councils concerned because they were charging Rs1,000 or above for solemnizing a marriage. Some of them were involved even in solemnizing marriages of runaway couples and kidnapped girls in back dates for considerable sums of money.