Context:

  • According to the recent study on child marriage in India which is published in the Lancet noted the overall decrease in child marriage across the country.
  • But the report pointed out that four States, mainly Bihar (16.7%), West Bengal (15.2%), Uttar Pradesh (12.5%), and Maharashtra (8.2%) accounted for more than half of the total headcount burden of child marriages in girls.

What are the key findings?

  • The paper titled ‘Prevalence of girl and boy child marriage across States and Union Territories in India, 1993–2021: a repeated cross­sectional study’ signifies that one in five girls are still married below legal age in India.
  • The largest absolute increase in headcount was observed in the state of West Bengal that is an increase of 32.3% in headcount.
  • Child marriage particularly girl child marriage has posed a critical challenge for policy­makers in West Bengal for decades.
  • The National Family Health Survey­5 carried out in 2019­20, points out that the women aged 20­24 years who were married before the age of 18 years in the state of West Bengal remains one of the highest in the country at 41.6%.
  • The percentage was the same also during the National Family Health Survey­ 4.
  • The all­India figure of women aged 20­24 years getting married before they turn 18 is marked at 23.3%.

What have been the policy interventions?

  • The West Bengal government has made a number of policy changes to stop child marriage.
  • Kanyashree Prakalpa which is launched in October 2013, is a conditional cash transfer scheme and is aimed at incentivising the schooling of all teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 18, and simultaneously discouraging child marriage.
  • The scheme has completed almost 10 years and was recognised at an international level with a United Nations Public Service Award 2017.
  • The West Bengal Budget for the year 2023­24 said the scheme has covered nearly 81 lakh girls.
  • Along with Kanyashree, the State government also has cash incentive schemes for marriage of girls in the name of ‘Rupashree Prakalpa’.