"Get us a bride or we’ll be on the roads,” Maharashtra youth warn the state government.

This group of youth belonging to rural Maharashtra might not be tempted easily to stir government upon the issue of unemployment, paper leak or the ongoing issue related to the voter list amendment but it, sure, is ready to take to streets on a demand which the society or their parents have failed to fulfil: to get them a bride. 

In the season of protest and unrest around the country, one more agitation is brewing among the youth of rural Maharashtra. 

According to The Hindu, 28 year old Kisan Nanaware, from Solapur, has already demonstrated Dharna before the office of District Collector in September demanding a bride. “We are planning not only a Statewide but a nationwide network of boys who are not getting brides to marry and plan a massive agitation,” Kisan said.

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The demands of the youth like Kisan are not just to attract hollow government promises but they want it to lay out a proper structure about their future. They also want the government to issue an official resolution with clearly drawn out steps to help those who are not married. The main demands from the government: to establish an all-religion marriage registration bureau under the Social Welfare Department, to provide in hand monetary aid, create  long-term rural employment opportunities etc. If the authorities do not fulfil the promises, the movement could spread nationwide, Kisan warned.

Multiple reasons can be cited regarding this agitation. One is the lower sex ratio of Maharashtra which is 899 girls per 1,000 boys during the year of 2022-24 which was barely above the 2012-14 marks of 896 girls. 

Another reason  is the lack of employment opportunities in rural areas and the farm income is the only support which is also showing a diminishing trend.  

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An  uncertain future ahead

The youth in rural areas of Maharashtra is posing a grim question before the BJP-led alliance, be it top tier leader of the state machinery or a local Gram Panchayat Sarpanches:“who will take responsibility for our marriage?”

The girl’s family demands a well-settled groom with stable income and in rural areas it is very hard to achieve. So the voice of youth is not solely focused on the demand of brides but also incorporates a better opportunity to meet their both ends. 

Sharing his agony, one such young man, from Yavatmal, Maharashtra, fretted over the prospects of getting a girl. He’s already 32 and doing an odd job without completing the graduation and others like him mustering support across the state to raise the issue at state level, according to The Hindu. “The movement would begin from local gram sabhas,” he said.

No Silver Lining for the Government

The government, which has already been besieged by the numerous protests on issues of employment, inflation, paper leak and SIR drive, can’t afford another youth uprising especially in a state which is the most prosperous in terms of GDP. 

(Edited by Ritik Singh)

[Rh/GS/RS]

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