Child marriage act not implemented in the state, reveals RTI

Times of India: Bhubaneshwar: Sunday, April 21, 2018.

Despite large scale prevalence of child marriage cases in the state, Odisha government has not been implementing the Orissa Child Marriage Prohibition Act, alleged civil society groups and lodged a complaint with National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). They alleged that no annual report has been prepared since 2009 to till date and nor the annual review meetings were conducted as per the act.

Responding to the queries sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act Odisha government said, no annual report is available from 2009 to till date. The Chief Child Marriage Prohibition Officer (CCMPO) has no plan to prepare and submit an annual report for the year 2017 – 18, the reply said.

There is only one state level convergence meeting on strategy development to prevent child marriage in Odisha held on May 31, 2016. Apart from that no annual review and strategy conference on prevention of child marriage held in between 2009 to 2017. The CCMPO has no plan to convene annual review and strategy conference on prevention of child marriage for the year 2018, the reply from Women and Child Development department said.

“It is unfortunate that the prohibition of child marriage act is not being implemented properly in the state. Despite more incidents of child marriages the state is below the national average because not many FIRs are being lodged. Our act is a bit sketchy and there is a need for more stringent act as in the state of Karnataka,” said former chairperson of Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR), Kasturi Mohapatra.

In districts like Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Mayurbhanj, Koraput, Rayagada, Nayagarh, Ganjam and Keonjhar, incidents of child marriages are more than the national average of 26.8%.

“In such a grave situation the apathetic attitude of the designated officer on effective implementation of the Orissa Prohibition of Child Marriage Rules, 2009 is a major concern,” said G R Panda, a social activist, who filed a petition with the NHRC seeking intervention.

“I urged the NHRC to issue necessary direction to prepare and submit the annual report on the progress of implementation of the Act for last year, and also to convene the annual review and strategy conference on prevention of child marriage within a month,” Panda added.