india

Updated: Dec 01, 2016 13:56 IST

Amid reports that Karnataka mining tycoon Gali Janardhan Reddy spent over Rs 500 crore for his daughter’s wedding a couple of weeks ago, an IAS officer from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has set an example by marrying her colleague by spending just Rs 500.

Vijayawada sub-collector Dr Saloni Sidana married Ashish Vashishta, an Indian Administrative Service officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, on Monday by paying a court fee of Rs 500 in the office of Bhind additional district magistrate.

And within 48 hours, Sidana was back to her duty back in Vijayawada, reporting to Krishna district collector A Babu. The 27-year-old officer distributed sweets among the staff in the collectorate to share her happiness.

“It was really a pleasant surprise to all of us. She has shown an example to all of us at a time when the currency crisis has hit the entire nation,” a junior official in the chief minister’s office said.

Sidana, however, does not consider it something that should be publicised.

“I don’t think there is anything unusual about it. It was purely a personal affair and hence we wanted to have it in a very simple manner. In fact, my husband also returned to the duty on Wednesday itself,” she told Hindustan Times.

“We also had a simple marriage ceremony as per our customs apart from registering it (in court),” she said.

Apart from family members, a few close relatives of the couple were also present at their wedding. And there was no lavish dinner or reception.

Asked whether they would like to throw a party for their friends and relatives, Sidana laughed and said: “We have not planned it so far. Maybe, we would do it later.”

Daughter of an agriculturist in a small village in Punjab’s Jalalabad district, the 2014-batch IAS officer fell in love with Ashish of the same batch while undergoing training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.

A topper throughout her academic career, Sidana completed her MBBS course in Delhi and worked at the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences as a radiologist for some time before opting for the civil services. She cleared the UPPSC exam in her first attempt in 2013 by securing the 74th rank and was given the Andhra cadre.