The Assam government on Thursday launched the ‘Mission for Prevention of Child Marriage’ in the state with a budget allocation of Rs 200 crore. The decision of the Assam government comes in the wake of thousands of arrests over child marriages in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Assam government aims to make the state free of child marriages by 2026.
Finance Minister Ajanta Neog while presenting the state budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 on Thursday stated that child marriage is one of the main reasons for high maternal and infant mortality rates in Assam. Neog said that curbing the growing menace of child marriages in the state has not only become a necessity but an urgency.
The Finance Minister said, “All gram panchayat secretaries in Assam are being designated as the child marriage prevention officers who will ensure the prohibition of child marriages, the protection of the victims as well as prosecution of the offenders by lodging First Information Reports.”
While briefing mediapersons outside the state Assembly, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “We have allocated Rs 200 crore in the mission against child marriages. We have reiterated that whoever is involved in child marriage, will face action under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.”
“Arrest drives will take place every six months. At least 3,000-4,000 arrests will take place. We shall start a mission for rehabilitation of the victims and set up a 24-hour helpline. Several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) are supporting our action against child marriage," the Chief Minister said.
Sarma further said, “We have already made several arrests. Also, the outlay of Rs 200 crore in this year’s Budget will be augmented by 2026. We will ensure that not a single child marriage takes place in Assam.”
“There have been reports that the Gauhati High Court has criticized the Assam government but no such indication has come so far. Our mission against child marriage will intensify in the days to come. This is not communal and we want to approach the issue completely from a humanitarian point of view," he said.
Reacting to the development, Congress MLA from Nazira constituency and the Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia said, “The Chief Minister said that conviction on arrests under Child Marriage Act is 5%. In spite of that, he is saying the POCSO Act will be implemented. Earlier, Section 376 of the IPC had been used to register sexual abuse cases in child marriages. However, no victim has said that she had been raped. Only their age is different. The POCSO Act is for different purposes.”
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader and MLA from Sonai constituency Karim Uddin Barbhuiya said, “The government may take steps for awareness against child marriage. I have even picked up the issue several times in the Assembly. Institutions should be set up where child marriage is more, birth control programmes should be organised, universities should be set up in places like Barpeta, Dhubri, Hailakandi, and Karimganj." "We acknowledge that child marriage should not take place, but the government is trying to politicise the issue. A solution to this problem should be discussed and implemented,” he added.
The Assam government has been up in arms against child marriages in the state. Over 3,000 people, allegedly linked with child marriages, have been arrested across the state so far. They have been lodged in temporary jails. The arrests sparked widespread protests by women who decried the arrests of the lone breadwinners of the family.