The Sobha Group, headed by Middle East-based Keralite P.N.C. Menon, Thursday conducted 19 community marriages here as part of its corporate social responsibility, taking the group's total to 449 since 2003.

 

 

 The marriages were held under the aegis of the Sri Kurumba Trust, where Menon and his wife are trustees.

 

 V.A. Gangadharan, who heads the social empowerment department of Sobha Group, told IANS that the girls under this programme hail from Vadakkenchery and Kizhakkenchery panchayats adopted by Menon.

 

 "A study of the financial position of the girls' families is conducted and they are selected on that basis. Every girl is given five sovereigns of gold, basic items necessary for a family and dress materials," he said.

 

 The girls are from different religions but, it being a social event, there are no priests to conduct the ceremony. Instead, it is left to the couples and their family members to decide how to go about the ceremony.

 

 Community marriages are conducted by the group every year in May and December.

 

 The 65-year-old Menon set up Sobha Developers in 1995. It is now one of the largest and only backward-integrated real estate players in India.