Deogarh: Residents of Thianal village under Budhapal panchayat in Deogarh district have demanded the tag of ‘Child Marriage Free Village’. They are not ready to wait for the time when the Odisha government will bestow the honour on them.
The demand of the villagers is quite justified. Deogarh is ranked ninth among the 16 districts in Odisha where child marriages occur regularly. However, in the Thianal village no child marriages have taken place in the last two years.
“Villagers ask for education, health, drinking water and communication facilities. But we demand the status of a ‘Child Marriage Free Village’. We belong to a district which has gained notoriety for child marriages. So having the tag is a prestige issue for us,” villagers said.
They informed that in the month of February during a meeting local Anganwadi worker Amruti Sahu had announced that no child marriage had taken place for the last two years in the village. On the basis of this, the villagers had given a memorandum to the Deogarh district collector and local MLA.
Following the direction of additional district magistrate Dharam Hansda, district child protection officer Romeo Mahapatra and district coordinator, ‘ActionAid’, Kumudbandhu Satpathy recently visited the village and conducted a meeting under the chairmanship of Saddhu Pradhan. During the meeting all attendees wore masks and social distancing norms were implemented.
A body called the ‘Child Marriage Prohibition Forum’ was formed during the meeting. They also christened the village ‘kotha ghar’ (community centre) as ‘Child Marriage Prohibition Consultation Centre’.
The villagers urged the administration to take steps so that they will have the status as soon as possible. If the village gets the status, it will be the first one in the district to get the tag. By preventing child marriages, the village has become an example for others.
PNN