BHUBANESWAR: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has directed district education officers of the state to submit a school-wise report on students irregular in their school attendance, out-of-school students or those who have dropped out, to their respective district collectors by April 4.
In a bid to prevent child marriages during Akshaya Tritiya (April 30), which witnesses a significant number of such weddings, the child rights body has written to the state government to trace out vulnerable children from the reports and ask the child marriage prevention officers to counsel their parents to prevent potential child marriages.
In Odisha, while girl child marriages have marginally come down, it is still a matter of concern for child grooms. The state saw decline in the prevalence of girl child marriage from 21.3 per cent in NFHS-4 to 20.5 per cent in NFHS-5, a reduction of 0.8 per cent.
However, when it comes to marriage of boys below the legal age of 21, the percentage increased to 13.3 in NFHS-5 compared to 11 per cent in NFHS-4. There are 50 panchayats in the state which have been identified as vulnerable as far as high incidence of child marriages is concerned.