Goa govt makes premarital counselling compulsory

Goa government has decided to come up with a policy to make premarital counselling mandatory, as number of divorce cases see a surge.

Nilesh Cabral, State Law Minister, on May 31 said the state government’s Goa Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (GIPARD) will finalise the counselling course and its format.

He said that they are coming up with a new policy to make premarital counselling mandatory in the state and added that they may also rope in religious institutions for the same.

He informed that the decision was taken following a rise in divorce cases reported in Goa.

Cabral asserted that many divorces are taking place within six months to one year of marriage. “As a policy, we thought that premarital counselling should be made compulsory to create awareness among couples.”

The minister informed that he did not have data on the exact number of divorce cases reported each month and he claimed that the number has increased in recent times.