GUWAHATI — Amidst the Assam government's ongoing efforts to completely eradicate child marriages in the state, two villages in Cachar district were declared 'zero child marriage' areas, an official said on Monday.
Cachar District Commissioner Rohan Kumar Jha said there were child marriages the villages of Rukni Part-4 and Bhairabpur Part-1 in the last two years.
"We conducted surveys of every home and obtained police reports to verify the veracity of this claim. The villages have now been designated as zero child marriage areas. But if even one incident is reported, this accolade will be revoked," he said.
The officer further said that additional funds will be provided by the administration for the development of these two villages.
"This will be done to inspire people living in other villages," Jha mentioned.
The District Child Protection Unit visited more than a thousand homes in both villages, according to officials.
"We met the family members, obtained information on their family members, recent weddings, previous police complaints, etc., and they also signed a declaration," said Bijoy Barman, an officer involved with the survey exercise.
According to Barman, the team spoke with the local priests who conduct the Hindu wedding rituals and obtained information on every marriage that took place in the villages over the previous two years.
"In Rukni Part-4, there are 565 homes, and they are all Hindu. We requested that the priests certify the declaration," Barman continued.
The panchayat representatives claimed that they do not coerce girls into choosing a spouse, but marriage is not permitted until the girl reaches the age of 18.
"In the past, if a girl under the age of 18 eloped with a partner, she was hauled back and imprisoned at home until she became 18. They were allowed to get married once they reached adulthood," they claimed.
Anjan Roy, a resident of the village, claimed that underage marriage is prohibited in the community and has been for many years.
"Whenever a marriage proposal is made, the panchayat meets with the girl's family to determine whether or not she is a minor. Nobody in our village is in favour of child marriage, Roy stated.
As per the panchayat representatives, this step has dropped down the rate of infant mortality and mother mortality rate in two villages
In January this year, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma declared that the state government would begin a campaign against child marriages in the state.
Following that, the Assam Police registered 4,244 cases and made more than 3,000 arrests, including those of the men who had wed girls under the age of one in February and their family members.
Later, Sarma announced that efforts would continue in order to achieve their goal of declaring Assam a child-marriage-free state by the year 2026.
Along with making arrests, the state administration began concentrating on a number of awareness campaigns to discourage such marriages.
The Cachar district administration established Bal Panchayats and organised community-wide awareness events.
Bal Panchayats are focused on locations with a high tendency for child marriage, according to the officials. Panchayat presidents will serve as nodal officers, assisted by staff from ASHA, Anganwadi, doctors, and other organisations.