Starting from May 17, no more than 50 people will be allowed to attend a wedding function or an event in Karnataka, Home Department of the Karnataka government has said. The Karnataka government has enlisted various guidelines for conducting wedding and other functions. The directive also included that all guests must have the Aarogya Setu app installed on their phones. Further, the directive disallows air conditioning and also the consumption of liquor and paan. Karnataka government has also specified that hosts must not extend an invitation to people aged above 65, below 10 years or pregnant women.
Further Guidelines
Furthermore, the hosts must also ensure maintaining a detailed list of all the guests with their contacts. Also, they need to ensure that each attendee goes through thermal scanning before entering the event. Provision of hand sanitizers and face masks will also be compulsory at all such events to maintain safety. Thermal scanning will help with temperatures. The amount of radiation emitted by an object increases with temperature. Therefore, any person failing the test must not be allowed.
The wedding or event venue must also be hygienically maintained, the guidelines also stated. Also, another guideline followed that spitting in public places will strictly be prohibited. Although, it has always been the advice. Hosts must ensure the specification of a nodal person who will be responsible to oversee arrangements and coordination at the venue, the advisory said. The advisory added that a list of those attending the marriage with contact details has to be maintained.
An advisory by the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services said that in view of the ongoing COV1D-19 pandemic, the Centre has decided to ease the lockdown in a phased manner and provided guidelines for the same. And these guidelines come after the High Court of Karnataka rapped the government for allowing Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s wedding. The wedding was hosted despite strict lockdown guidelines, based on a PIL filed, as reported by The News Minute.
Other Wedding Stories
People are not holding weddings and events despite government guidelines. Recently, Telugu actor Nikhil Siddhartha tied the sacred knot with Dr Pallavi Varma in an intimate ceremony in Hyderabad on May 14. The #NikPal wedding even included innovative decorations saying ‘Mask Here, Sanitisers There, Love Everywhere’. Family members and close friends were the only attendees. The masks and sanitizers were necessary at this wedding as well. Read Wedding Affair’s coverage of the wedding here.Â
Jyoti Ranjan Swain and Rojalin of Jagatsingh and Ashish Ranjan Swain and Vaishali of Cuttack district have a different story. Both these couples used funds from their wedding expenses to donate money to the less fortunate in Odisha during the lockdown. Jyoti and Rojalin donated Rs 10,000, Ashish and Vaishali donated Rs 40,000 to the chief minister’s relief fund.
Weddings In Upcoming Time
Similar guidelines can be followed by other states in the time to come. Furthermore, people themselves are cancelling their weddings and events owing to the paranoia of the virus. Another option that the couples are exploring is live-streaming their weddings with their family. The couple marries in a safe, closed space. The friends and family enjoy the wedding within the comfort of their homes. However, this doesn’t seem like an option ‘good enough’ for many. Indians have always desired a big fat wedding and it is difficult for them to give up on this dream.Â
Hence, one might see the rise of smaller and intimate weddings in the time to come. Plus, thermal checkups, masks and sanitisers are to remain a part of weddings. For the time to follow, this Karnataka directive, with little alterations can be followed by couples nationwide for a safer wedding.
