Chhatrapur: Ganjam district will be free of child marriage from January. An announcement to this effect will be made soon. Local officials will be held responsible for any child marriage at any place in the district.
This was stated here by Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange while he was presiding over a review meeting of the district child protection committee. Kulange asked the officials to work towards making the district free of child marriage.
Moreover, anybody providing information on child marriage will be personally felicitated by him, he said. The Collector asked the officials to meet girls in their respective areas during their field visits and sensitise them on child marriage.
He also asked sub-collectors, ICDS officials and district social welfare officer to review the women and child welfare programmes every month.
According to a report on gender ratio, female population has seen an increase in Ganjam in the last five years.
Similarly, the National Family Health Survey Report claims that the female population was 801 per 1000 males in 2015-16 but has since increased to 855 in 2020-21.
The report also said, the rate of child marriage in Ganjam district was 29 per cent but has declined to 21 per cent after schemes like Nirbhaya Kadhi were implemented in the district.
Officials were asked to ensure that no person visits the collectorate for pension and ration issues. Kulange asked the officials to keep all government offices clean and make it free from tobacco consumption.
All officials consuming tobacco have been asked to shun the habit. He said he will personally visit the offices to oversee the implementation of the order.
PNN