Plans to halt child marriage

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 3 JULY: In an attempt to monitor and stop girls marrying before they reach 18 years of age, the district social welfare department, with the help of the sociology department of Burdwan University, has started a survey of marriage age in Malda's villages.

This is the first time such a survey has been carried out in a West Bengal district, and Malda has been chosen because the district has ‘ranked’ first for early marriage rates, with the highest rate of early marriages being recorded in the last few years.

The social welfare officers have selected 30 villages; two villages from each block out of the 15 blocks in this district.

After the completion of the survey, awareness campaigns will be launched in 30 selected villages.

Unicef has come forward to take part in this special drive to check early marriage by providing financial assistance. Two other organisations, the international law forum and banglanatak.com, will also take part in the special drive.

The members of the law forum will organise programmes in 30 villages, and explain the existing laws to the villagers, in the hope of putting a stop to early marriage.

The members of banglanatak.com will also organise awareness programmes through the use of folk culture. Malda's folk song "Gambhira" will be used as a tool to make people think about, and decide against, early marriage for their daughters.

“We have planned to engage local schools, panchayat and local NGOs to interfere when family members plan early marriages for their daughters. After the completion of the survey of 30 villages, we will hold a meeting to prepare an action plan against early marriage”, said the district social welfare office Mr PK De.

“This is a pilot project, and we hope it will enable us to declare 30 villages as ‘early marriage free'. The programme will is a year-long project, and after its successful completion it will be extended across the district”, Mr De said.

During surveying yesterday, the team members found one 13 year old Muslim girl at Itakhola village in English Bazaar block who had been forced by family members into marriage.

During the interaction, the father of the girl blamed his wife, and said that his "daughter's mother was the driving force behind the marriage of my daughter”

The social welfare department will take action against the parents if they do not follow governmental guidelines.