25/11/2021 - Society | GS I | G.S I - Society

IAS Parliament 2 years

KEY POINTS

· Data from the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS4) in 2015-16 shows that even before Covid, one in four girls in India was being married before 18.

· Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have been the main policy instrument introduced by most states in the last two decades to end child marriage.

· Karnataka amended the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act in 2017, declaring every child marriage void ab initio, making it a cognisable offence, and introducing a minimum period of rigorous imprisonment for all who enable a child marriage.

· These include expansion of secondary education, access to safe and affordable public transport, and support for young women to apply their education to earn a livelihood.

· Expansion of education goes beyond access. Girls must be able to attend school regularly, remain there, and achieve.

· Girls’ clubs should be systematically formed in high school to provide informal social networks for group study, solidarity, and resilience.

· Teachers should hold regular gender equality conversations with high school girls and boys to shape progressive attitudes that will sustain into adulthood.

· Empowerment measures, too, are required to end child marriage, such as community engagement through programmes like Mahila Samakhya.

· Children’s village assemblies in the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across India can provide a platform for children to voice their concerns.