'Inspiring': Sena MP Milind Deora Praises Maharashtra Family For Spending Over ₹33 Cr For Insuring Entire Village As Return Gift During Wedding

Nanded: Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, Milind Deora, praised a Maharashtra family after they gifted accident insurance coverage to an entire village during a wedding ceremony in Nanded district.

The unique gesture took place during the wedding of Siddheshwar Pethkar and Manjusha in Bahadarpura village of Kandhar taluka in Nanded on May 20, where the groom’s family insured nearly 3,500 villagers instead of distributing traditional return gifts.

Reacting to the initiative, Deora described the move as 'inspiring' and said it reflected compassion and social responsibility over extravagance. “Gifting accident insurance coverage to thousands of villagers as a wedding return gift is inspiring,” Deora wrote in a post on X. He added that the gesture reminded him of a similar initiative undertaken during his own wedding with Pooja Shetty.

3,465 Villagers Secured With Insurance Cover Of ₹1 Lakh Each

The Pethkar family brought around 3,465 villagers under an accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh each, taking the total insured amount to nearly Rs 33.6 crore. According to the family, the idea was driven by concern over the risks commonly faced in rural areas, including accidental deaths caused by snake bites, lightning strikes and road accidents.

Siddheshwar’s elder brother, Anup Pethkar, said the family wanted the wedding celebrations to create a lasting benefit for the community. “In villages of Nanded, accidental deaths due to snake bites, lightning and other incidents are not uncommon. We wanted the happiness of the wedding to reach everyone in a meaningful way,” he said, as quoted by Times of India.

To implement the initiative, the family opted for a group insurance policy through the gram panchayat and used the village voters’ list to ensure all eligible residents were covered. Despite the scale of the initiative, the family chose not to publicly discuss the financial details of the premium paid.

Villagers Welcome Heartfelt Initiative

The wedding ceremony reportedly saw attendance from more than 4,500 guests, but villagers said the insurance initiative became the defining highlight of the celebrations. Village sarpanch Baliram Pethkar described the move as possibly one of the first instances where an entire village received insurance coverage as a wedding return gift.

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