India / UP releases guidelines for weddings and gatherings; guest limit capped at 100

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh Monday released fresh guidelines for weddings in the state, limiting the number of guests to a maximum of 100.

This is down from 200 guests, which the government had permitted on 15 October with proper safety protocols.

According to the new guidelines, issued in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, if a marriage hall’s capacity is 100 or less, then the number of guests can only be 50 per cent of that figure. The guidelines state that this is also applicable to other public gatherings.

An FIR will be registered against those found violating the guidelines, said the state government order issued by Chief Secretary Rajendra Tiwari.

The order also underlined that marriage functions and other public gathering can only be held outside containment zones.

According to the new guidelines, wedding organisers will have to mandatorily arrange for face masks, sanitisers and thermal scanners at the venue. Guests will also have to follow social distancing norms.

No restrictions on DJ & bands

There are, however, no restrictions on DJs and wedding music bands but the guidelines call for social distancing norms to be followed.

According to a source in the UP government, local administrations have been empowered to release additional guidelines regarding gatherings.

On Monday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired a Covid-19 review meeting in which he reiterated that the threat from the virus had not receded and urged people to remain alert until a vaccine is developed.

UP has 23,806 active Covid-19 cases as of 22 November while it has reported 7,559 deaths.