Sign In
Learn bits
Polity & Governance
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

More Related Current Affairs View All

19 Dec

Parliamentary Standing Committee recommendations on MSP

'A parliamentary committee  has recommended implementing a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price, amid a slew of measures to improve farmers’ welfare.' The Parli

Read More

19 Dec

Climate change and biodiversity loss are connected

'A new major scientific report has highlighted the strong interlinkages between some of the biggest challenges facing humankind such as climate change, biodiversity loss and hunger

Read More

18 Dec

Carbon Market

'Carbon markets are a tool for putting a price on carbon emissions. It allows the trade of carbon credits with the overall objective of bringing down emissions.' These markets

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps