27 January 2004	Tuesday	04 Zilhaj 1424

RAWALPINDI, Jan 26: The district government plans to hold mass marriages to facilitate those people who cannot meet wedding expenses, District Nazim Raja Tariq Kiani told this reporter on Monday.

He said the district government had already started the process, but at a very small scale in the shape of marriage of girls living in social welfare facilities for destitute. A similar marriage is taking place within the next few days as well. Mr Kiani said the district government planned to marry 100 couples in the first collective marriage.

He said he would be meeting Punjab governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired) on Tuesday to discuss the plan for collective marriages. He said the governor had desired that the practice of collective marriages should be initiated in major cities of the province. He said the spirit behind the plan was to help the poor by reaching out to them.

The lists of intending couples, he said, would be compiled through the Baitul Mal and District Zakat Council. Later, the credential of the couples would be independently certified to ensure that only genuinely deserving cases benefit from this programme.