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CHILD MARRIAGE

olice in western Assam’s 12 states hurdle in married before 18,” said the report. thermore, while Bihar, Gujarat and Tel- important to note that almost a quarter
Barpeta district could res- The report found that completion angana report a very high prevalence of of the married girls in the 15-16 years
cue 16-year-old Amina of secondary education played a sig- child marriage amongst OBC girls, West age group had at least one baby while
Khatoon (name changed) nificant role in delaying the age at mar- Bengal has the highest prevalence of more than a quarter of the married
P hours before her marriage child marriage tirade riage. “Findings show the completion child marriage amongst SC girls,” it said. teenage girls had at least one child at
on September 6 only because she had rate of secondary schooling is consid- The report also identified 100 dis- age 17 while 31 per cent had a child by
called the Childline helpline (1098). Am- erably higher amongst unmarried girls tricts having the highest prevalence of age 18,” it said.
ina, a Class XII student knew that mar- aged 15-19 years in almost all states. child marriage with Murshidabad in Further analysis of the number of
riage before 18 is unhealthy and illegal Child marriage rate is higher in at least 12 states and some Making secondary schooling a funda- West Bengal leading the tally with 39.9 children born to teenage mothers re-
made her seek the help of police as she Union Territories in India. 15 per cent of child marriages are mental right and ensuring girls from per cent child marriage among 15-19 vealed that 27.3 per cent of married
did not want to get married so early and poor households are provided safe years old girls. Gandhinagar in Gujarat teenage girls had given birth to one
wanted to continue her study. prevalent among Scheduled Tribes and 13 per cent among learning environments as well as resi- came second with 39.3 per cent fol - child while 4.2 per cent of married girls
“My father is illiterate and is not Scheduled castes, reports NANDITA SENGUPTA dential secondary schools for remote lowed by Bhilwara in Rajasthan (36.4 had given birth to two or more chil-
aware that child marriage is bad. They areas may be considered as necessary per cent), Shrawasti (36.3 per cent) in dren. At least 12 states had more than
wanted me to get married as they had steps to prevent early marriage in In- Uttar Pradesh, Birbhum (35.2 per cent) 40 per cent of these girls having at least
got an educated boy working in a good dian states. In Bihar, a completion rate in West Bengal, Khagaria (34.4 per cent) one child or more. Goa, Mizoram and
company. But I want to complete grad- of secondary education amongst girls in Bihar, Goalpara (33.9 per cent) in As- Meghalaya topped the list with 64 per
uation and try for a government job be- who married before age 18 is only 51 per sam, Deoghar (32.7 per cent) and Giridih cent, 61 per cent and 53 per cent teen-
fore getting married,” Amina had told cent, followed by 54 per cent in Delhi age pregnancies among the early mar-
Child Line officials in Barpeta, hours af- and Rajasthan (57 per cent). ried girls.
ter she was rescued and the 28-year-old The report said there was a strong
boy with whom her parents had fixed relationship between girl child mar- The prevalence Solutions at question
marriage was arrested. riage and household wealth index as a of child marriage Child rights activists campaigning
That education of the girls helps in girl from a poor family was found to be against the serious problem of child
checking India’s serious problem of more likely being married at a younger among women marriage says quality education for
child marriage has been highlighted age than a girl from a wealthier fam- girls could have made a major change
in the India Child Marriage and Teen- ily. “The state-level analysis also high- with no education on further reducing child marriage
age Pregnancy report prepared by lights that child marriage amongst amongst 15 to 19 rate in the country. “Apart from edu-
National Commission for Protection of girls is so entrenched in certain social cation, we must provide skill develop-
Child Rights (NCPCR) that found India’s groups that a substantial proportion of years and 20 to 24 ment courses to young girls and action
child marriage between 15 to 19 years girls from middle and top wealth ter- years age groups against religious leaders who mislead
old girls came down from 27 per cent to cile households are also reported to be poor and illiterate people in the vil -
11.9 per cent between 2005-06 to 2015- married before age 18,” it said. In Assam, is 30.8% and 49.3% lages with the misinformation that
16. The rate of child marriage among 20 child marriage was found to be higher respectively child marriage is allowed by religious
to 24 years old was found to be 26.8 per among two sections: the Muslims living scriptures. At the same time we must
cent. in the riverine areas and those in the have a strong political will to move the
The report says higher the level of tea gardens, mainly due to low literacy, (32.2 per cent) in Jharkhand. “Analysis agenda of child marriage prevention,”
education, lower the change of child poverty and role of religious leaders of top 100 districts based on the high said Chiranjeeb Kakoty, the chair of the
marriage. “Women’s educational level • Catching them young A girl from a poor family is more likely being married at a younger age who allow such illegal practice. prevalence of child marriage reveals National Action and Coordination
is found to be negatively associated The report found that 15 per cent that 14 states have these high preva- Group for Ending Violence Against
with the prevalence of child marriage 2015 and16. Nagar Haveli (17.5), Assam (16.6), Andhra child marriage happened among lence districts. Bihar has the maximum Children (NACG-EVAC), India. Kakoty
for both 15-19 years and 20-24 years age Although the survey showed declin- Pradesh (16.6), Rajasthan (16.2), Gujarat Scheduled Tribes and 13 per cent number of districts with high preva- based in Guwahati also leads Adoles-
groups. For example, the prevalence of ing trend of the problem of child mar- (13.1), Telangana (12.9), Maharashtra (12.1) among Scheduled Castes. lence (20), followed by West Bengal (14), cent and Child Rights Network, a forum
child marriage among women with no riage entrenched mainly among India’s and Arunachal Pradesh (12.1). “However, when we analysed child Jharkhand (11), Rajasthan (10), Assam (9), of nearly 25 NGOs in Assam.
education amongst 15 to 19 years and illiterate sections, child marriage rate is Poverty was found to be a contrib- marriages amongst the top 10 states Maharashtra (9), Madhya Pradesh (8), Chairperson of NCPCR, the apex
20 to 24 years age groups is 30.8 per higher than the national average of 11.6 uting factor as it was evident from the with the highest prevalence of child Gujarat (5), Tripura (4), Andhra Pradesh child rights body, Stuti Kacker said in
cent and 49.3 per cent respectively. On per cent in at least 12 states and Union findings that a girl from a poor fam- marriage we found that this phenom- (3), Uttar Pradesh (3), Telangana (2), Kar- the report, “We hope this report will
the other hand the prevalence of child Territory seems to have emerged as a ily was more likely to get married at a enon is occurring across caste groups. nataka (1) and Odisha (1). trigger the required policy decisions
marriage is substantially lower among worry for those who see the country to younger age than a girl from a wealth- For instance In Arunachal Pradesh, 72 at the national and state levels and
the women with higher education for be a child-marriage free country. ier family. “The state-level analysis also per cent of the sample aged between Adverse impacts: support formulation of action plans
both age groups (2.4 per cent and 3.9 West Bengal tops the rate list of 12 highlights that child marriage among 15-19 years who had child marriages The report said analysis of NFHS-4 at the district levels focused on pre-
per cent respectively),” says the report states having child marriage problem girls is so entrenched in certain social belong to Scheduled Tribes while 38 revealed that amongst the married venting child marriage and teenage
prepared by the NCPCR based on anal- higher than the national average with groups that a substantial proportion of per cent of the Other Castes girls in girls aged between 15 to 19 years, 31.5 pregnancies.”
ysis of the National Family Health Sur- 25.6 per cent followed by Tripura (21.6), girls from middle and top wealth ter- Maharashtra reported the highest per- per cent of the sample girls in this age
vey 3 (NFHS) in 2005-06 and NFHS 4 of Bihar (19.7), Jharkhand (17.8), Dadar and cile households are also reported to be centage of married girls before 18. Fur- group were found to have babies. “It is LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

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