Those who marry widows will be rewarded. This has been decided unanimously by third village council meeting of Jorpati VDC, Kathmandu.

Talking to The Himalayan Times Punya Prasad Chaulagain, ward chairman of Ward No 1 and a participant at the meeting said, “In a situation where the custom of looking down on widows and even those marrying them is still prevalent in various places of Nepal, this decision is to imbibe the sense of respecting widows”.

The meeting has also passed strategies to discourage ‘untouchablity’ and encourage inter-caste marriages and even felicitate youth adopting the marriage system. To abolish the dowry system, a financial burden to poor parents, the meeting has also decided to request parents of the groom not to demand dowry. “Those men who marry without dowry will also be rewarded with respect and recognition”, said Chaulagain.

Besides, five Jorpati based students each from government and private colleges achieving highest scores in board exams will also be felicitated.

To avoid a haphazard construction of houses in the VDC and to cut down contamination of the sacred Bagmati river, planting of at least one tree per house will be made compulsory. One septic tank per house will also be made obligatory.

On the occasion, Gopal Baral presented the income-expenditure statement of the VDC.