To end child marriage, a campaign under Anwesha programme was launched in Nabarangpur district on Thursday.
The campaign was inaugurated by Collector Ajit Kumar Mishra. The main purpose of the Anwesha campaign is to develop the talents of adolescents by creating awareness among parents and the community to stop marriage at an early age.
The district administration has taken another step forward in its efforts to end child marriage in the district through the Anwesha campaign, said Collector Mishra.
A district-level child marriage prevention forum has been set up to empower teenagers and prevent child marriage, said District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Suresh Patnaik. District Magistrate Dr Ajit Kumar Mishra inaugurated the district-level forum, which consisted of 50 girls (sokhi soheli) from 10 blocks in the district. The meeting, chaired by Collector Mishra, was attended by District Social Welfare Officer Swarnalatha Biswas, District Child Protection Officer Suresh Patnaik, among others.
As per information so far this year, 202 child marriages were prevented and 595 villages of district were declared child marriage -free villages. Among others, Ratnakar Sahu PD DRDA, Sub Collector Akshaya Sunil Agrawal and others were present.