Madhya Pradesh: Pregnancy test done before marriage, Congress terms as gross insult to women

Mass marriage scheme for economically weaker section girls of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ran into controversy when some brides were subjected to pregnancy tests. About five of the 219 girls tested positive and were not allowed to get married. On the matter the Congress has opened attack and called it an insult to poor girls.

Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh over the alleged pregnancy test of 219 beneficiaries of a government scheme in Dindori district, the Opposition Congress accused it of undermining the dignity of women. These women were brides-to-be for a mass marriage to be held under the ‘Mukhya Mantri Kanya Vivah Yojana’ on Saturday. Each woman gets a financial assistance of ₹51,000 under the scheme.

The Opposition Congress alleged that the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government made more than 200 girls to go for ‘pregnancy tests’ while checking their eligibility for a scheme that provides a marriage grant of Rs 55,000 per couple. While the state government has not yet issued a statement on the matter, a local BJP leader said the girls were only put through a ‘fitness test’, during which some were found to have been pregnant. He added that four women, who were found to be pregnant, were not allowed to take part in the mass marriage.

Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath on Sunday tweeted, “In Dindori, the news of getting pregnancy tests done for more than 200 daughters has come to the fore in mass marriages to be conducted under Mukhyamantri Kanyavivah Yojana. I want to know from the Chief Minister whether this news is true? If this news is true, then on whose orders was this gross insult done to the daughters of Madhya Pradesh ? Do the daughters of the poor and tribal communities have no dignity in the eyes of the Chief Minister.”

Mr. Nath also asked for a probe into the matter. “ I demand from the Chief Minister that a fair and high-level inquiry should be conducted into the entire matter and the guilty should be punished severely. This is not only a matter of pregnancy test, but also of a malicious attitude towards the entire female race,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dindori District Collector Vikas Mishra told journalists that there was no directive from the district administration to conduct pregnancy test. “Directives were issued during the mass marriage event for detection of sickle cell ailment among those taking part,” he said.