The Jharkhand government has vested power on panchayat chiefs across the state under the compulsory Marriage Registration Act, Palamau marriage registrar Dharmender Kumar Upadhaya said, terming it as a big move.

A lot of relief and comfort has come with this announcement, Upadhaya told The Telegraph Online.

At the panchayat level, he said, the fee for compulsory marriage registration comes for little less than Rs 100 compared to that of a marriage registrar who operates from a district town.

“Let’s not forget that it is the panchayat sachiv who gives birth and death certificates in the panchayat. So it is no problem for them to issue a marriage certificate,” Upadhaya said.

On Wednesday a National Informatics Centre team held a virtual session with the panchayat chiefs sensitising them about the finesse of community marriage registration.

Upadhaya said the age of the boy and girl matters most for marriage registration, and one of the two has to be from the same panchayat from where the registration is done.

In case of court marriage registration is to be done at the marriage registrar's desk and nowhere else, he informed.