Research shows that child marriages contribute to virtually every social problem that keeps India behind in women’s rights.
When Parliament adopted the Child Marriage Restraint Act in 1978, setting 18 as the minimum age for a woman to marry and 21 for a man, legislators hoped that the statute would curb child marriages and the social ills they perpetuate. Sadly, nothing of the sort happened. Child marriages remain common in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhatisgarh and Orissa.
Research shows that child marriages contribute to virtually every social problem that keeps India behind in women’s rights. The problems include soaring birth rates, grinding poverty and malnutrition, high illiteracy and infant mortality, and low life expectancy, especially among rural women.
Rajasthan is a state known for its desert landscapes, hilltop forts and palaces, as well as its persistence in feudal traditions, including child marriages that have kept Rajasthani women among the most socially disadvantaged in India. Child marriages remain so popular here that virtually every city, town and village takes on a holiday atmosphere ahead of the annual Akha Teej festival - the moment judged most auspicious for marriages.
According to rough estimates, in some districts of Rajasthan, over 60 per cent of girls are married off before they turn 18. On the day of the festival, usually in late April or early May, roads are choked with tractors pulling trailers filled with gaily dressed wedding guests. And this in a state which has a woman as its Chief Minister.
Each year, formal warnings are posted outside state government offices stating that child marriages are illegal, but they have little impact. To prevent child marriages, police officers have been asked to take the support of various women’s organisations and other NGOs, besides the officers and employees in different departments working at the district level. They have also been asked to create awareness against this social evil.
Also see: Crying shame!
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