Though a mere 15 cases were registered under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 in Odisha in the year 2016, which is, however, 1,400 per cent more than the cases registered under the Act in 2015, the real enormity of child marriage in the State has been put in its right perspective by the NFHS (National Family Health Survey)-4 released recently that shows child marriage is not a minor problem in Odisha.
The NFHS-4 brings to fore the fact of how in 2015-16 a high of 21.3 per cent women in the age group of 20-24 years reportedly marred before the legal age limit of 18-years. However, the assuring fact for the State planners is that in a decade this percentage count has dipped from a high of 37 per cent in 2005-06. But the fact for caution is Odisha still is figured at the 8th spot nationally in the top-10 States having high incidence of child marriage.
Moreover, the drop in percentage proportion over the decade has been only 43 per cent against a 50-per cent drop by high-incidence States like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Jharkhand and Kerala.
Significantly, Chhattisgarh by bringing a 50-percentage drop over the decade has eased out of the top-10 States in 2015-16.
What points to the need of more efforts in curbing girl child marriages in Odisha is the NFHS-4 data revealing that boys marrying before the legal age-limit of 21 years has seen a 50 per cent drop in over a decade ending 2015-16.
A district-wise analysis shows a total of 24 districts where the rot lies in the State as more than 10 per cent girls marry before the legal age limit of 18 years. While the Census-2011 identified Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur with a high of around 20-19 per cent girls below 18 years having married, the other worrisome districts are Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh and Rayagada where the proportion hovers at around 17-16 per cent. Whereas districts like Angul, Baleswar, Ganjam, Gajapati, Keonjhar, Kandhamal, Dhenkanal and Boudh have a proportion ranging from 15-13 per cent.
A close look at the districts brings to the fore the reasons behind the high incidence of child marriages in the State. While top-burden districts have high tribal populations, almost all districts have very poor socioeconomic backgrounds.
Moreover, if a NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) report is to be believed, girl child trafficking also played a major role in increased incidences of child marriages, where NCPCR finds girls were being kidnapped for the sole purpose of being compelled to marry. According to the NCRB-2015 report, a high of 221 girl children were kidnapped for the said purpose alone in Odisha and the incidents have come from the top districts like Mayurbhanj, Anugul, Kandhamal and Baleswar, which, incidentally, have high child marriage incidences.
Moreover, shortcomings like absence of fulltime Child Marriage Prevention Officers (CMPOs) in the burdensome districts and a lack of coordination between police, Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) fail to prevent the evil.