Marriage during lockdown: Groom and bride in fix how to travel together

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Gwalior district administration in Madhya Pradesh issued an order on Saturday for marriages under all the religions whereby no more than four persons each from groom and bride’s side including a priest or a qazi or anyone else conducting the marriage will be allowed to attend the marriage, as per the order.

Also, only two vehicles will be allowed to be used either by the groom or the bride side if either of them has to leave the district for another destination for the marriage to be solemnised.

The order issued by the collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh states, “Those organising a marriage can do so at their residence in presence of only four persons each from the groom and the bride side including a pandit/qazi etc. No public place will be allowed to be used for the marriage.”

The order further said, “Only two persons including a driver will be allowed in one vehicle if bride or groom side has to leave the district for another destination for the marriage with the permission to be granted for just two vehicles. The permission for the two vehicles will have to be sought from the sub-divisional magistrate concerned.”

A violation of the order will be punishable under section 188 of CrPC and other relevant Acts. Social distancing norms too will have to be complied with, said the order.

A district administration official who didn’t want to be named said, “The practical problem associated with the order is if a groom or a bride has to leave Gwalior for another destination for the marriage to be solemnised he or she will have to do a lot of arithmetic to decide who else will accompany him/her. If the bride or groom’s family is not using its own cars and hires cars with drivers then only one person in addition to bride/groom can travel with either of them. Also, after the marriage bride and groom will travel back in two different cars with drivers and the other person from the family accompanying bride/groom will be left with no vehicle at all for his return.”

Commissioner, Gwalior division MB Ojha said, “The order has been issued as per the instructions from the Central government.”   

I am not dead but alive, says Covid patient in video, health dept admits lapse

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Health department in Madhya Pradesh admitted its lapse in declaring a young Covid-19 patient dead in Ujjain, 190 kilometres west of Bhopal, and issued a show cause notice on Saturday to the doctor concerned who committed the grave error, as per statement of a health department official in Ujjain.

The department swung into action and issued the show cause notice to the doctor moments after a video clip posted by the 30-year-old patient admitted to a private medical college in Ujjain went viral on social media. 

The patient is heard saying in the video clip, "I was admitted to RD Gardi Hospital two days back. I read in a newspaper on Saturday that I have been declared dead whereas I am alive and healthy. Nothing has happened to me. Please share this video with others and improve the arrangements here.”

Chief medical and health officer (CMHO), Ujjain Dr Anusuiya Gawali Sinha said, “The name of the patient was entered in the record as dead in place of a 60-year-old Covid-19 patient from Ujjain who died on Thursday. The doctor who happens to be the nodal officer has admitted his lapse saying that it happened due to confusion over names and addresses. I have issued a show cause notice to him and sought his explanation as to why action be not taken against him and his institution by the health department. Also, I have warned him that such an error should not be repeated in future.”  

On Saturday, Madhya Pradesh saw increase of as many as 99 new Covid-19 patients taking the tally of the Covid-19 patients in the state to 1945. Out of these patients, 1085 were registered in Indore alone followed by 388 in Bhopal and 103 in Ujjain.

There has been death of as many as 99 of the 1945 patients with 57 reported dead in Indore, 15 in Ujjain and 9 in Bhopal.

According to Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis, an institute set up by the state government in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh was the fifth among the states in the total number of persons affected as per the data available on Friday evening. The 159 new reported cases on Friday were from six districts. The test positivity rate increased from 5.10% to 5.26% whereas recovery rate had fallen from 12.035 to 11.38%. The case fatality rate increased slightly from 4.92% to 4.98%. 

(With input from Anand Nigam, journalist in Ujjain)