Drive rolled out in state to curb child marriage, end witch-hunting

Ranchi: The department of women, child development and social security on Saturday rolled out a statewide outreach initiative to curb child marriage and eradicate witch-hunting.

The awareness drive, officials said, will also focus on empowering the state’s women and promote welfare schemes.Over the next 20 days, govt officials will reach out to Manki–Munda and other traditional leaders, along with village heads, panchayati raj Institution members, Anganwadi workers, self-help group leaders, and frontline stakeholders through sub-divisional level training-cum-workshops.The workshops will be held across the state in a total of 45 subdivisions from Saturday to January 26 with an aim to directly engage around 45,000 frontline leaders.

The department has appealed to public representatives, officials, and employees of related departments, voluntary organisations, and social workers to ensure active participation in the programme.Director of social welfare, Kiran Kumar Pasi, said, "While the national average of child marriage stands at 23%, the state's rate is around 32%, indicating that nearly every third marriage in the state involves a minor. The workshops will underline the collective responsibility of village heads, Manki–Munda, child marriage prohibition officers, para teachers, panchayat samiti members, and mukhiyas to prevent such incidents and immediately report them through Women Helpline 181, Child Helpline 1098, or Police Helpline 112.

"The training is aligned with the govt’s Child Marriage-Free India 100-day campaign and will also disseminate information about nominated CMPOs and their roles.