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Mahesh

08/01/24 07:03 AM IST

Why is child marriage still high in West Bengal?

In News
  • A recent study said that mainly four States, Bihar (16.7%), West Bengal (15.2%), Uttar Pradesh (12.5%), and Maharashtra (8.2%) accounted for more than half of the total headcount burden of child marriages in girls.
Major findings
  • The paper titled ‘Prevalence of girl and boy child marriage across States and Union Territories in India, 1993–2021: a repeated cross-sectional study’ highlights that one in five girls are still married below legal age in India.
  • The publication states that while some States have achieved dramatic decreases in prevalence and headcount for child marriage in girls, “other states have struggled, such as West Bengal”.
  • The largest absolute increase in headcount was observed in West Bengal, representing an increase of 32.3% in headcount.
  • West Bengal saw the largest absolute increase with over 5,00,000 more girls getting married as children.
  • The National Family Health Survey-5 carried out in 2019-20, points out that the women aged 20-24 years who were married before the age of 18 years in West Bengal remains one of the highest in the country at 41.6%.
  • The percentage was the same during the National Family Health Survey- 4.
  • The all-India figure of women aged 20-24 years getting married before they turn 18 is pegged at 23.3%.
Impact
  • While child marriage is considered a human rights violation and a recognised form of sexual and gender-based violence, the adverse impact of child marriage is manifested across maternal and child health in the State.
  • Murshidabad, one of the economically poorer districts of the State, has one of the highest numbers of child marriages in West Bengal.
  • The NFHS - 5 points out that 55.4% of women aged 20-24 years are married before the age of 18 years in the district.
  • The district saw a rise from NFHS-4 numbers, which stood at 53.5 %.
Schemes by West Bengal Govt.
  • The West Bengal government has made a number of policy interventions to stop child marriage.
  • Launched in October 2013, Kanyashree Prakalpa is a conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at incentivising the schooling of all teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 18, and simultaneously discouraging child marriage.
  • The scheme has completed 10 years and was recognised at an international level with a United Nations Public Service Award 2017.
  • The West Bengal Budget for the year 2023-24 said the scheme has covered 81 lakh girls.
  • In 2023, the West Bengal Higher Secondary Examination, also referred to as the Class XII board exam, saw a 14.84% increase in female candidates.
  • The number of girls appearing in the examination was 1.27 lakh higher than boys and totalled 57.43% of the total candidates.
  • The All-India Survey of Higher Education for 2020-21 also puts the number of estimated enrolment of girls in West Bengal at 9.29 lakh, which is higher than the boys enrolment which stood at 8.63 lakh.
Way forward
  • West Bengal has emerged as an example where cash incentives and existing laws have failed to check child marriages.
  • In 2022, the West Bengal government called for a district action plan to curb child marriage and issued necessary guidelines.
  • However, in the absence of a social campaign involving all stakeholders including panchayats, schools and local communities and without a political will to enforce the existing laws the situation at the grass roots will not improve as rapidly as it has in other parts of the country.
Source- The Hindu

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