Sikh Anand Marriage Act Implemented in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram

NEW DELHI—The state governments of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram have implemented the Anand Marriage Act.  Earlier, this act was unavailable to 6 states within India outside of Punjab.  With efforts of the Delhi Shiromani Gurdwara Management Committee, other State Governments have given recognition to this act.

Other states outside of Punjab where the act is implemented includes Haryana, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa and Meghalaya.

Speaking with Sikh24, DSGMC General Secretary Manjinder Sirsa informed that he has been told by the Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor that the Delhi state government might also implement the Sikh Anand Marriage Act in upcoming days.

In 2012, India had passed the Anand Marriage (Amendment) Bill, after which Sikhs are able to register their marriages under the Anand Marriage Act instead of the Hindu Marriage Act, with President Pratibha Patil giving her assent to a bill passed by Parliament on 7 June 2012 in the budget session.

Sirsa further informed that he is in touch with state governments of Bihar and Uttarakhand in this concern and now he has received official confirmation from these states about ongoing process to implement Anand Marriage Act.

He further told Sikh24 that with the implementation of the act in these states, Sikhs residing there can get their marriages registered under this act. He added that this will be especially helpful to those Sikhs who travel abroad as earlier they had to face a lot of problems because of non-registration of their marriages.