Chennai: The Kerala government has decided to provide an incentive worth Rs 2,500 to people who inform the government about child marriages before they get solemnised in the state. The initiative was taken by the government under a project titled ‘Ponvakk’ which is aimed to curb child marriages in the state.
According to a report in The News Minute, the government has decided to incentivise people who alert the officials from the Women and Child development department on child marriages. The state government has already allotted a sum of Rs 5 lakhs for the same for the financial year and the fund was handed over to the district women and child development officers.
Quoting a government order, the report said that the government had instructed child marriage prohibition officers to create awareness among the people through public representatives and local self-government institutions about the project. The state has about 258 child marriage prohibition officers.
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Quoting unidentified officials, the report said that the officials would not just ensure that the identity of the informer is anonymous but also reward them with a cash award and the cash award would be handed over to them in person instead of crediting it through bank accounts.
The report said that the cash award would be given on a first cum first serve basis if more than one person alerts the officials about the marriage and only those who inform about the wedding in advance would be rewarded.
Concerned officials were instructed to display their phone numbers and email ids outside anganwadi centres, the report said.
According to the report, crime statistics of the police department said that as many as 21 cases of child marriage were reported between 2019 and 2021 in the state and more than 260 complaints against child marriage were received during the same period.