The Assam government has started Bal Panchayats, village-level meetings, to create awareness among the common people about the negative impact of child marriages.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the initiative was officially launched in Cachar district on Sunday where 10 child marriage pockets have been identified. “Cachar has begun this process, and the Team has identified 10 child marriage pockets,” he wrote on Twitter.
The chief minister said the Bal Panchayats are additional support from the administration’s part to the ongoing police crackdown on child marriages in the state. “We are supplementing efforts of Assam Police with decisive & strategic interventions by DCs. All have been advised to identify vulnerable pockets, which is followed by holding of Bal Panchayat to sensitise & aware people. This is yielding good results,”Sarma added
According to officials, Bal Panchayats will target the areas where tendency of child marriage is high. Panchayat presidents will work as nodal officers and they will be supported by Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, doctors, police etc,” officials said.
“Grassroots level awareness programme is our target and teams will have qazis and priests as well,” circle officer in Cachar district, Vikash Chetry told HT on Sunday.
Cachar deputy commissioner, Rohan Kumar Jha, superintendent of police, Numal Mahatta and other officials attended the Bal Panchayats held in Notun Ramnagar GP under Sonai Block, Buribail GP under Salchapra Block, Panibhora GP under Narshingpur Block on Sunday.
Jha said that they are involving senior officials to grassroots level workers to create awareness. “The pockets have been identified where most of the child marriages were reported. Today we organised meetings and talked to the families directly,” Jha said.
Mahatta said, “Apart from arresting those involved in child marriages, we do awareness programmes in rural areas. This additional effort from DC’s side will strengthen us.”
The Assam police have arrested over 3,000 individuals involved in child marriages under a special drive started on February 3. The individuals have been arrested under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012.
The police have registered 4,235 cases so far and 6,707 accused have been identified. Out of the 3,047 arrested persons, 93 are female and 2,954 are male.
Chief minister Sarma claimed that the impact of the drive is visible and people are voluntarily cancelling child marriages in various parts of Assam. A marriage invitation card went viral on social media where the families mentioned the date of birth of both the bride and the groom.
A week after launching the crackdown on child marriages, the Assam government formed a committee to draft policies on how to compensate the victims of forced child marriages.
The chief minister on February 9 appointed three cabinet ministers, Keshab Mahanta, Dr Ranoj Pegu and Ajanta Neog to finalise a draft within 15 days.
Dr Pegu on February 10 said, “We have started studying the cases and within a few days, we will submit our proposal to the state government.”