BERHAMPUR: Around 1,032 villages and 140 Wards of Ganjam district, which recorded more incidents of child marriages than the national average till 2018, were declared child marriage free by the district administration on Wednesday. Of these, the highest of 111 villages are in Chatrapur block.
Eight districts of the State earlier recorded more child marriages than the national average of 26.8 pc and Ganjam was one among them with a prevalence rate of 29.8 pc, as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4. To arrest child marriages by 2030, the Ganjam administration with the help of Unicef and ActionAid had last year implemented Nirbhaya Kadhi programme under which, it had formulated panchayat and ward-level taskforces to create awareness among people about the ills of child marriage.
Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said no child marriages have been reported in any of the 1,032 villages and 140 Wards after implementation of the Nirbhaya Kadhi programme.