Action plan to stop child marriages on the cards
A National Action Plan is being prepared to prevent child marriages, women and child development minister Krishna Tirath said today.
A National Action Plan is being prepared to prevent child marriages, women and child development minister Krishna Tirath said on Wednesday.
While there has been a reduction in the number of child marriages in the country, the social evil still exists, she told Rajya Sabha. "Child marriages continue to take place at some places in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh... it is also prevalent in West Bengal," she said during Question Hour.
As per the National Health Survey (2005-06) the percentage of women in the age group 18 to 29 who married before reaching legal age of 18 is 45.6%. "This indicates prevalence of child marriage in the country," she said.
She said incidence of child marriages has come down during the last decade. In Rajasthan, it has fallen from 58.4% of all marriages to 21.9% currently.
In Chattisgarh it has come down from 50.5% to 6%, in Bihar it has dropped from 63.7% to 20.2% and in Madhya Pradesh it has fallen to 17.5% from 52.6%. In Assam, child marriages as percentage of all marriages has fallen from 38.2% to 10.2%.
She said efforts were on to tackle the problem of child marriage through close coordination with state governments for effective implementation of the law.
The ministry has been implement a scheme 'Sabala' for empowering adolescent girls in 205 districts of the country since November 2010, she said, adding awareness campaigns were being conducted to bring attitudinal changes to prevent child marriage.