HYDERABAD: Telangana is one among eight States where the prevalence of child marriage is high. The number of child marriages reported in Telangana are 25 in 2017, 24 in 2018, 35 in 2019, 60 in 2020 and 57 in 2021.
Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani, in reply to a question in Lok Sabha, said that since the enactment of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), the prevalence of child marriage has reduced by half from 47 per cent in 2006 to 23.3 per cent during 2019-21 (NFHS-5).
However, a few States such as Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura and West Bengal have a higher prevalence of child marriage than the national average as per NFHS-5, the Union Minister said.
Telangana reported over 92,000 dog bit cases in 2022
The total number of dog bite cases registered in Telangana in 2022 was 92,613. Replying to a question in Lok Sabha on Friday, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Satya Pal Singh Baghel said that the State reported 24,124 dog bite cases in 2021 and 66,782 cases in 2020. The Minister said that to ensure reporting of rabies cases, Union Health Ministry has asked all States /UTs to make human rabies a notifiable disease so as to make it mandatory for all government and private health facilities, including medical colleges, to report all suspected, probable and confirmed human rabies cases as per the guidelines of the National Rabies Control Programme.
Vacancies in AIIMS
To another question, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that as against the sanctioned strength of 183 faculty in AIIMS, Bibinagar, only 108 faculty members are available and 75 are vacant. Out of 971 non-faculty posts sanctioned, 351 members are available and 620 posts are vacant.
As many as three acid attack cases in 2019, four in 2020 and two in 2021 were reported in Telangana, said Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar in reply to a question in Lok Sabha.