GUWAHATI: Assam finance minister Ajanta Neog on Thursday announced that a new mission would be set up in the women and child development department with an allocation of Rs 200 crore in a bid to prevent child marriages in the state and eradicate the menace by the end of the year 2026.
Presenting the Assam Budget 2023-24 before the Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly, the state finance minister said, “I would like to point out that curbing child marriages in the state has not only become a necessity but an urgency.”
“Our government has launched a mass drive against the violators of ‘Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) 2006’ earlier this year. To sustain the efforts, our government is committed to launching the ‘Mission for Prevention of Child Marriage’ with a target of making Assam free of incidents of child marriage by the end of the year 2026,” Neog said.
“High maternal and infant mortality rates are major health care issues in this part of the country. We have been sincerely addressing these concerns and could reduce our maternal mortality from 237 in the year 2014-16 to 195 in the year 2018-20 and infant mortality rate from 49 in the year 2014 to 36 in the year 2020. Child marriage has been one of the prominent reasons for our high infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate,” the finance minister said.
It may be noted that all Gram Panchayat secretaries in Assam have been designated as ‘Child Marriage Prevention Officers’.
“These officers will ensure the prohibition of child marriages, the protection of the victims as well as prosecution of the offenders by lodging FIRs. Our district police forces will continue to conduct intensive drives every six months to take necessary action against offenders,” the minister said.
The mission will work in a time-bound manner and link all programmes and services for women and children and for effective implementation of special legislations such as the Prevention of Child Marriage Act 2006, POCSO Act 2012, Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, 2015 and Right to Education Act, 2009 in collaboration with relevant line departments and stakeholders such as NGOs and Samaritan volunteers.
“This mission will specifically focus on surveillance, strengthening institutions, the introduction of the helpline, and rehabilitation of victims. There will be a call centre to monitor the complaints. Being a woman and a mother, I call everyone to act sternly against this injustice meted out to our daughters,” the minister said.
The Assam government had in January this year launched a statewide drive against the practice of child marriage amidst disturbing information compiled on the ‘menace’ under National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5).
The state Cabinet had taken a decision following which the Assam Police was directed to launch a massive crackdown against the practice.
According to the NFHS-5 data, 31.8 per cent of women in Assam in the age group of 20-24 years have married before the age of 18 years compared to 23.3 per cent of women in India.
Moreover, 11.7 per cent of women in Assam in the age group of 15-19 years were already mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey (NFHS-5) compared to 6.8 per cent of women in India.
Assam has reported about one lakh child marriages so far. According to official data, one-fourth (25 per cent) of maternal deaths are of age less than or equal to 20 years.
“Child marriages are the prime cause of deaths of infants and mothers. The state Cabinet has therefore decided that cases would be registered under POCSO Act against persons (adult) marrying girls under 14 years of age,” the chief minister had said after a Cabinet meeting in January.
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“Further, a two-year sentence (under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006) would be given in regard to a child marriage which takes place between couples aged between 14 years and years punishment and such a marriage would be considered illegal,” he said.
Meanwhile, Assam director general Gyanendra Pratap Singh on Thursday said that altogether 4300 cases related to child marriages have been registered and that charge sheets have been filed in nearly 800 of these cases.
“We have reviewed the matter yesterday and charge sheets have been filed in close to 800 of the cases. We have been directed to file all charge sheets and settle the cases by April this year,” the DGP said.
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