TAXILA: Citing the geographic and social situation, the office bearers of the local wedding hall association have called upon the Punjab government to review the one-dish policy for the outlets located in Taxila and Wah, as heavy fines, sealing of premises have pushed the local wedding industry to collapse.
The demand was made at a joint press conference organised by the Wedding Halls Association on Friday, attended by its patron-in-chief, Malik Azhar Nawaz, president Hamid Naseem Mughal, general secretary Fakhar Abbas, finance and information secretary Ammar Ali Shah, along with a large number of hall owners.
The speakers said they supported the government’s objective of promoting simplicity in wedding ceremonies and curbing extravagance, and had no principled objection to the one-dish policy.
However, they maintained that the way the policy was being enforced had drastically reduced the number of events, threatening the survival of the industry, besides pushing the local wedding industry into a severe financial crisis.
The office bearers, while citing the geographic and social situation, revealed that in the wedding halls and marques of the adjacent garrison city, there is no implementation of one-dish policy.
In contrast, marriage venues in the adjoining Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad cities are located just two kilometres from the city, where there are no restrictions on multiple dishes.
Hence, customers turned to these venues, resulting in ruining the local industry, who wait for the season around the year. The office bearers were of the view that thousands of families depended on the wedding hall business for their livelihood, including those employed in catering, kitchen services, waiting staff, decoration, sound systems and other allied sectors. The sharp decline in bookings, they added, had led to widespread unemployment and financial distress.
The association appealed to the Punjab government to allow at least one additional dish, arguing that a two-dish limit would help stabilise the industry without undermining the spirit of simplicity.
Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2025
