The Governments are taking various steps to stop child marriage by taking various measures. Despite that the Census 2011 shows that child marriage is prevalent. Now, as per the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and Special Marriage Act 1954, the age of marriage has been increased. The age of marriage of males is now fixed at 21year and of females it is 18 year.
Besides, the Census brings out important information on the marital status of the Odisha population. Out of a total population of 4,19,74,218 in the State, 1,95,37,946 persons (46.55%) are never married and 2,01,88,960 persons (48.10%) are currently married. 20, 68,214 persons (4.93 per cent) are widowed, 1, 42,774 persons (0.34%) are separated and 36,324 persons (0.09%) are reported divorced during the 2011 Census.
Never married males constitute 25.65 per cent of the total population whereas never married females constitute 20.89 per cent of the total population, which shows there is sex imbalance in the category of never married. Currently married males constitute 23.69 per cent of the total population whereas currently married females constitute 24.41 per cent of the total population. In case of widows, males constitute 1.09 per cent of the total population whereas females constitute 3.84 per cent of the total population, which shows that female widows outnumber the male widows. In case of separated category, 0.10 per cent of the males of the total population are separated from their spouses whereas 0.24 per cent of the females to total population are separated from their husband. Similarly, 0.02 per cent of the males to total population are divorced whereas 0.07 per cent of the females to the total population are reported divorced. In case of last three categories namely, widowed, separated and divorced, females outnumber the males, which shows that males might have married for the second time.
All the persons in the age group of 0-9 are reported as never married. Out of the total population of 77,27,797 in the age group 0-9, 51.29 per cent are males and 48.71 per cent are females which indicate that the child sex ratio is low i.e. 950 in this age group. As per 2011 Census, out of the total population of 43, 48,625 in the age group 10-14 years, 98.51 per cent are ‘never married’ and others are reported under the category of ‘currently married, widowed, separated and divorced’. Out of these 98.51 per cent ‘never married’ persons, 50.14 per cent are males and 48.37 per cent are females. ‘Currently married’ persons constitute 1.37 per cent of the total population in the age 10-14 years of which 0.49 per cent are males and 0.88 per cent are females. Similarly, ‘widowed’ persons constitute 0.07 per cent of the total population in this age group out of which 0.02 per cent are males and 0.05 per cent are females. Moreover, ‘separated’ persons constitute 0.05 per cent of the total population out of which 0.02 per cent are males and 0.03 per cent are females. A negligible percentage (0.01%) i.e., only 332 persons (142 males and 190 females) are reported divorced in the age group of 10-14 years. It shows from the above narration that the females are marrying in earlier ages.
In the age group of 15-19 years, out of the total population 39,25,398 persons, 91.09 per cent are ‘never married’ out of which 48.73 per cent are males and 42.36 per cent are females; 8.66 per cent are married (1.45% males and 7.21% females); 0.14 per cent are widowed (0.04% males and 0.10% females); 0.07 per cent are separated (0.03% males and 0.06% females) and 0.02 per cent are divorced, (724 persons 171 males and 553 females).
1,44,13,106 persons are reported in the age group less than 18 years as per 2011 Census, out of which 98.82 per cent are reported ‘never married’ comprising of 50.58 per cent males and 48.24 per cent females. In this age group, 1.11 per cent are reported ‘currently married’(0.31% males and 0.80% females); 0.04 per cent are reported ‘widowed’(0.01% males and 0.03% females); 0.02 per cent are reported ‘separated’ (0.01% males as well as females) and negligible per cent of ‘divorced’ (628 persons, 239 males and 389 females). Though the minimum age at marriage for female is 18, still it reveals that in the age group of less than 18 year, 1.72 per cent of the females (1, 21,669) are ‘married or widowed or separated or divorced’, which is a matter of concern.
In the age group of less than 21 years, 1,69,79,851 persons are reported during 2011 Census out of which 95.75 per cent are ‘never married’ (49.90% males and 45.85% females); 4.13 per cent are ‘currently married’ (0.77 per cent males and 3.35 per cent females); 0.07 per cent are ‘widowed’ (0.02% males and 0.05% females); 0.05 per cent are ‘separated’ (0.01% males and 0.03% females) and 0.01 per cent ‘divorced’ (negligible males and 0.01% females). It reveals that out of the total male population of 86,09,880 in the age group less than 21 years, 1,37,464 males i.e., 1.60 per cent of the total males in this age group are either ‘currently married, widowed, separated or divorced’ which is a matter of thought.
It is interesting to note that never married population is reported in older age groups 60-64 and above. In the age group of 80+ years, out of 3,97,992 persons, 15,553 persons (3.91%) are reported ‘never married’ consisting of 2.19 per cent males and 1.71 per cent females. It further reveals from the above statement that more number of ‘never married’ persons both males and females are reported in the earlier age groups of 0-9, 10-14, 15-19 and 20-24 whereas more number of ‘currently married’ persons are reported in the age group of 25-29 to 75-79 years and in case of ‘widowed’, it is found more from the age group 60-64 years to 80+ years. No significant number is noticed in any particular age group in case of separated and divorced.
(The writer, a senior IAS officer, is Director, Census, Odisha)