We all know that child marriage has not been fully eradicated yet, but it still feels unpleasant to read about the extent of it through cold hard facts. This one is based on the most recent Census, of 2011. The Times of India reported a story today from Gujarat that says that the state has 1.7 lakh girls below the age of 15 who have already been married off. Of them, 27,247 girls already have borne two children each.
Ten years prior to this census, the numbers would have undoubtedly been higher. There is no dispute here that the numbers are reducing, but it seems they are not reducing fast enough. A total of 1.76 lakh girls might seem like a small number when compared to 79.84 lakh girls who have not married at that tender age and continued their studies. That’s just a miniscule 2.15 per cent of the total girl’s population under that age group. But that’s not what this exercise is about.
It’s about the fact that while nearly 80 lakh girls of their age group, and that’s practically everybody, are happily off to school with only their exams being their biggest worry, here are 1.76 lakh girls in Gujarat alone who have had their schooling stopped before they finished they entered high school.
It’s about the fact that instead of nurturing their dreams for their future, or unwinding after school with their friends, here are 1.75 lakh girls who instead stay confined indoors, to the kitchen, waiting upon their husbands and their families.
It’s also about more than 27,000 girls who bore two children even before they completed their class ten. And this is just Gujarat we are talking about. The numbers would be higher in states like UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana.
In the TOI article, a village headman when questioned shrugs it off. “These marriages are generally from the lower income group families and even the panchayats do not stop them as these families marry off at least two to three daughters or sons at a time to cut down on expenses,” says the sarpanch of Kolwan Diva Pagi.
Manibhai Vankar, sarpanch of Gaja Pagina in Kheda, said, in the rural area generally such marriages take place in barter system. “If the elder brother is getting married, the family would insist that the minor girl is also married into the other family,” he says. This tradition is rampant and many a time it leads to child marriage.
The government runs a Back-to-School program that targets school dropouts who have been made child labourers. They are rehabilitated and inducted back into the system using an elaborate well-thought-out program. But besides the general awareness programs that counsel against child marriages, there are no specific ones intended to revive education for these married girls or targeted intervention program to prevent such marriages.
We have undoubtedly come a long way in preventing child marriages, but we have only gone 80 per cent of the way. The last 20 per cent is clearly resisting any change. Perhaps we need to change tactics in order to make the remainder of the lot yield to the government. Until now, marriages of minors had been allowed as long as parental consent was obtained. But now, perhaps the government should consider a legal amendment to the various Marriage Acts enacted in our country. Perhaps a clause could be introduced that forces parents to justify before the Child Welfare Committee as to why they married their children off before they reached the age of 18 or face consequences. This may sufficiently discourage them from marrying their girls off at a tender age.
Image Courtesy: Reuters
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