Bihar Create a 'Task Force' to Avoid and End Child Marriages

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] March 08: As  per the research, 40.8% of women in the state marry before they turn 18.  But between 2020 and 2024, just 19 cases have been filed in line with the Restriction of Child Marriage Act. Patna: The Bihar government decided to establish a "task force" at the state level, supervised by the chief secretary, to handle the state's efforts to stop and end child marriages. 

Bihar has the second-greatest number of child marriage in the nation, after West Bengal, according to the National Family Health Survey-5.

"In regions and communities where child marriage is more common, we are creating an individualized strategy to decrease the practice. Chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena told PTI on Saturday that the Bihar government has chosen to form a "task force" at the state level to oversee the steps being taken by the government to stop and end child marriages in the state.

 He stated that police and other officials have been directed to deal with PCMA cases successfully and to take severe actions against individuals involved in such illegal activities.

"The task force will regularly monitor the actions taken in this regard," he declared.

 A statement from him, the state government defends child marriage in a number of ways, including by implementing the law more strictly, educating girls, and spreading awareness through JEEViKA.

 The chief secretary more mentioned that the government has put in a 35% reservation for women in government positions and a 50% quota at all levels in Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies.

"The two main the foundations of our plan to reduce child marriage are economic empowerment and girls' education. 

 Reducing child marriages will be greatly helped by the establishment of high schools in every gram panchayat and the announcement of funds for the development of degree colleges in every block.  In order to prevent and address child marriage cases, we are also in the process of creating a separate cadre of officers.  "Child Marriage Protection officials" is the title given to these authorities, who are appointed at the district and subdivision levels," Meena said."Under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the state government is taking multiple steps to prevent child marriage and empower women," Harjot Kaur Bamhrah, additional chief secretary of the department of social welfare and chairman-cum-managing director of the Women and Child Development Corporation, told PTI, echoing a similar opinion.  A state-level task group and an individual corps of officers tasked with handling child marriage cases are a couple of these initiatives.

 In order to address child weddings in the state, she continued, particular rules are being developed to ensure effective communication between the Special Juvenile Police Unit and Child Marriage Prohibition Authorities.

Alankrita Pandey, the district magistrate for Jehanabad, informed PTI that the government is taking the necessary actions to stop child weddings.  In order to stop child weddings, we are first identifying regions of Jehanabad that are at risk of them and communicating with the local community.  We often host awareness camps in rural regions as part of our community engagement programs to educate people about the negative effects of child marriage and its serious impact on the health of both child brides and their children.

Similarly, Udita Singh, the district magistrate for Rohtas, told PTI, "The district administration organizes interactive meetings with girl students in government schools every Saturday at the block and panchayat levels as part of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme.

We inform them of the dangers of child marriage all over these sessions.  We additionally set up an incentive program for informers who inform the authorities of cases of underage marriage.  A financial reward of up to ₹5,000 will be given to the source if the information is confirmed to be genuine.