New Delhi: With an aim to prevent child
marriages, particularly on the occasion of Akshay Tritiya, the government has asked state governments to appoint prohibition
officers and take necessary steps to curb the practice.
"Government has written to state governments to appoint
prohibition officers under the Prohibition of Child Marriage
Act, frame rules and take steps to prevent child marriage,
particularly on the occasion of Akha Teej or Akshay Tritiya,"
Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath told the
Lok Sabha today.
The Centre has written to 17 state governments in this
regard, namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat,
Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, West
Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.
Tirath said that the National Commission for Women (NCW)
has requested the Chief Ministers to sensitise and gear up
concerned machinery against those involved in the practice of
child marriages.
"Workshops, seminars and legal awareness camps are
organised in various states including Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to spread awareness and
bring attitudinal changes to prevent child marriage," she
said.
As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)- III in
2005-06, the percentage of girls getting married by the age of
18 was the highest in Bihar at 63.7 per cent, followed by
Jharkhand with 60.2 per cent. The all India average was
recorded at 45.6 per cent.
PTI
First Published: Friday, August 26, 2011, 23:32