Baripada: Child marriages used to take place in remote pockets of tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj district earlier, but with the intervention and sustained efforts of the administration, the practice has been curbed to an extent, a report said.
Since 2015, the administration, with the help of the district child protection unit and Childline, has been able to stop 283 child marriages. Still, the administration is continuing its efforts to raise awareness through a special ‘Sachetanata Rath’. Though it was launched recently, the Rath has covered all the 26 blocks.
The district child protection officials laid stress on making people and guardians aware of the ill effects of child marriages on girl children. The guardians should pay heed to the education and career of girl children, they said.
As per information available from the district child protection unit, in 2015, the administration had timely intervened and stopped 31 child marriages while 44 attempts of child marriage were halted in 2016.
However, the administration had intensified its efforts in 2017. That year, 99 child marriage bids were scuttled. In 2018, the administration had stopped 75 cases and 34 cases till June 10, 2019.
Going by the statistics, it seems the administration has been more proactive than the previous years, but the fall-and-rise in the number of child marriages indicates that guardians and people are still not aware of the harmful effects of marriage on the girl child.
Though low literacy rate and poor awareness among people are said to be factors responsible for child marriages, various quarters hope that the administration will continue to play its proactive role in sensitising people against the age-old practice.
PNN