Vigilant monitoring, campaigns curb child marriages on Akshaya Tritiya

Few complaints/reports of child marriages were received from the state on Akshay Tritiya, which is considered an auspicious occasion for solemnising such ceremonies.

While two child marriages were prevented in Sonepat district, the officials concerned also got to know about another one between a 20-year-old boy of Jind district and 16-year-old girl of Hisar district slated to be organised today and got it cancelled yesterday itself.

No complaints/reports of child marriages were received from Panipat, Karnal, Kaithal, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Gurugram and Faridabad.

Usually, numerous instances of child marriages are reported from different parts of Haryana as well as other states on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.

However, the number of child marriages seems to have come down sharply of late, with officials attributing the decline to constant raids to prevent child marriages and awareness campaigns conducted in the recent past.

“Our teams were alert and maintained a close vigil on the marriages of minors in view of Akshay Tritiya which fell today. The officials concerned, along with police personnel, rushed to the sites from where complaints of child marriages being solemnised were received. Nonetheless, the number of such marriages has come down," asserted Sudhir Rajpal, Additional Chief Secretary, Women and Child Development.

Karminder Kaur, Women Protection and Child Marriage Prohibition Officer incharge of Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, maintained that no complaints of child marriages were received from either of the districts today.

“In fact, no such complaints have been received from Rohtak or Jhajjar so far in the current financial year, whereas nine complaints were received from Rohtak and four from Jhajjar during the last financial year," she stated.

Asked about the reasons behind the reduction in the number of child marriages, Kaur observed that frequent prevention of child marriages by government officials accompanied by police personnel in the recent past had dissuaded the residents from the practice.

“Moreover, extensive awareness campaigns being run in collaboration with voluntary social and religious organisations, NGOs, educational institutions and panchayati raj institutions also play a key role," she added.

Subhash Chander, the district coordinator of Mission to the Desperate and Destitute (MDD) of India, said the organisation has put up flex-boards informing the people about the perils of child marriages at 50 religious places in Rohtak.

“We rope in the religious preachers, who caution the devotees against marrying their minor children. We also counsel the parents about the benefits they can get at the time of the marriage of their daughters under welfare schemes like kanyadan run by the government," he stated.

Haryana Tribune