Bhubaneswar: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked governments in eastern states to adopt "zero tolerance" policy to curb the social menace of child marriage. It has advised strict enforcement of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
To create awareness among all stakeholders, a two-day regional conference on child marriage began here on Thursday.
"The NHRC considers child marriage as a major national concern. The main objective of organising the meet is to come up with a national action plan and ask the governments for proper implementation of the policy," NHRC secretary-general Am-buj Sharma said.
The conference will be a platform to discuss various challenges faced by the enforcing agencies for effective implementation of the act and also consider modalities for tracking, recording, reporting and follow-up of child marriage incidents.
While over 40 per cent of child marriages in the world occur in India, 3,600 of them are solemnised in the country everyday. However, only a few of these cases are reported. Surprisingly, in 2015 only 293 and in 2016 only 326 cases of child marriages were reported under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
According to National Family Health Survey-4, Bengal and Bihar top the list of highest number of child marriages at 40.7 per cent and 39.1 per cent, respectively. Jharkhand and Rajasthan follow these two states at 38 per cent and 35.4 per cent, respectively. Odisha ranks 13th in the list at 21.3 per cent. In Odisha, districts such as Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Mayurbhanj, Koraput, Rayagada, Nayagarh, Ganjam and Keonjhar have high rate of child marriages. The count in these districts is higher than the national average of 26.8 per cent.
"Most women and girl child development programmes of Odisha government are aimed at curbing child marriage. In tribal areas, hundreds of hostels for girls have been opened to enable them continue their education. Besides, bicycles are being given to girls for easier travel to school," said chief secretary A.P. Padhi.
"To make child marriages void, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, should be amended in the manner done by Karnataka," said Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Kasturi Mohapatra.
