HYDERABAD: From more POCSO courts in districts with a high prevalence of child marriage to laws to shield child protection officers and strengthening of child protection committees at the village level, speakers at a day-long consultation held in Hyderabad on Wednesday — National Girl Child Day — had many solutions to offer.
With the aim to end child marriage in Telangana by 2030, various government departments including Women and Child Development (WCD), State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) and TS Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) along with Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) discussed the various challenges and solutions in combating child marriage and child sexual abuse.
SCPCR chairperson Srinivasa Rao highlighted the need to strengthen child protection committees at the village level. He said, “Child marriage has been one of the major challenges in developing countries since ages. As part of TSCPCR, we need to strengthen Village Child Protection Committees (VCPCs) by collaborating with all stakeholders. Monitoring mechanism of each committee and stakeholders should be formalised.”
Hailing the way the state government has intensified this fight to end child marriage, BBA executive director Dhananjay Tingal said: “The way Telangana government has taken up the cause is very promising. It is only through such convergence and multipronged strategy can we fight and eliminate child marriage by 2030. Through these consultations, we aim to bring together the various stakeholders so that they can work in tandem to fight this crime.”
The Telangana government had on October 16 sent notifications to its Panchayati Raj department, SLSA and WCD for their participation in the Child Marriage Free Telangana initiative which saw thousands of people taking pledges to end child marriage by 2030. This consultation is in continuation to the campaign and aims to bring all stakeholders in Telangana on the same platform and to prepare an action plan for the state.
‘Girls between 20-24 married early’
As per the National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS 2019-21), 23.3% of girls in the age group of 20-24 said that they were married off before attaining the age of 18. Meanwhile, Telangana’s data is slightly higher than the national average at 23.5% and the state government has intensified its efforts to ensure that the minor children in the state are not married before the legal age.