New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh chief secretary KS Jawahar Reddy on Wednesday said that the state government has decided to launch state-wide awareness campaigns against child marriage, news agency PTI reported. Reddy said this after meeting with UNICEF representatives and discussing how to eliminate child marriage.
In a statement, Reddy said, “If child marriage is not eliminated, it is impossible to restrict maternal mortality rate (MMR). That is the reason why the government is according utmost importance to eradicating child marriage.”
He further stated that to completely eradicate child marriage awareness campaigns will be taken up across the state, including identifying girls who dropped out of school and readmitting them.
Reddy said the southern state has taken up several initiatives to promote girl child education. In addition to this, he said that government junior colleges are being set up in every Mandal to encourage girls to study further, thus eradicating child marriage.
Additionally, he emphasized the need for a toll-free number that the public or even the children themselves can use to alert authorities about underage weddings.
In a similar manner, the Assam government also launched a state-wide crackdown on child marriages earlier this year.
Earlier in February, the Assam government started an intense drive against child marriages across the state, registering over 4,000 cases and arrest of over 3,000 individuals within a month.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday made a commitment to completely eliminate child marriage from Assam by 2026.
In his Independence Day speech, Sarma stated the state government would conduct a second crackdown on child marriage in the month of September.
"We will launch the second phase of our drive against child marriage next month," Sarma had said, reported Deccan Herald. "We will do everything to give a better life to our young girls and daughters," he added.