'Samaj Khatam Ho Jaayega': Nitin Gadkari on Impacts of Live-in Relationships

New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in a recent YouTube podcast said that live-in relationships are "inappropriate," dismantle society, harm the sex ratio and might force the future government to consider allowing men to have two wives.

"Live-in relationships are wrong. I went to London and met PM and the foreign minister, I asked them what's the most important problem in your country, they said the most important problem in European countries is that the majority youngsters, men and women are not getting married," Nitin Gadkari said.

When asked about the impact on countries, he promptly replied, “How will they have kids and what the future of a country be like?”

Further speaking during the podcast, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways was quoted saying, "Live-in relationships uchit nahi hain. Usse samaj khatam ho jaayega. Ye samaj kyu tika hua hai? Ladies and gents ka proportion theek hai. Ladies ka proportion agar ho gaya 1,500 and men ka hua 1,000, toh kal aapko do patni karne ki anumati deni padegi [They will lead to the breakdown of society. Why does society remain stable? Because the proportion of men and women is balanced. If the proportion of women becomes 1500 and men 1000, tomorrow you might have to allow men to have two wives]."

When asked if India needs more children, Gadkari said that it's not the issue and it is the responsibility of parents to have children and raise them well."

'Live-in Relationships Are Timepass': Allahabad HC Rejects Couple's Protection Plea

The Allahabad High Court in 2023 rejected the plea of an inter-faith live-in couple after it observed that live-in relationships are more infatuations against the opposite sex and often result in time pass.

"No doubt that Hon'ble the Apex Court in a number of cases, have validated the live-in relationship but in the span of two months in a tender age of 20-22 years, we cannot expect that the couple would be able to give a serious thought over their such type of temporary relationship. As mentioned above, it is more of infatuation against (sic) the opposite sex without any sincerity. The life is not a bed of roses. It examines every couple on the ground of hard and rough realities. Our experience shows, that such type of relationship often results in timepass, temporary and fragile and as such, we are avoiding to give any protection to the petitioner during the stage of the investigation," Bar and Bench quoted a bench of Rahul Chaturvedi and Mohd Azhar Husain Idrisi in the matter.