To prevent child marriages in Tiruvallur district, the Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihood Mission, along with an NGO — Integrated Rural Community Development Society (IRCDS) — has provided tailoring and beautician training for girls who drop out of schools.

In 2018, a total of 47 cases of child marriage were stopped in Tiruvallur, and in 2019, 59 cases were stopped. “We get complaints mainly from Tiruttani, R.K. Pet and Pallipattu,” said B. Senthil, district child protection officer.

According to P. Stephen, programme manager, IRCDS, in January, they along with the district child protection unit, identified 100 school dropouts in seven villages in Poondi block. All girls were below the age of 18.

“This is the age when school dropouts are vulnerable to marriage. Along with the Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihood Mission, we arranged an orientation programme for them, on how they can continue their education. Many took our guidance and started pursuing higher education in Chennai, but few could not travel that far,” said Mr. Stephen.

For 20 girls, they provided three-month training in beautician and tailoring courses. “The girls received certificates recently. We will be providing them free sewing machines and beautician kits. We will also provide them jobs,” he said.

The NGO has also been conducting awareness programmes on prevention of child marriage among community leaders, astrologers, priests, marriage hall owners and others. Y. Jayakumar, project director, Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihood Mission, said that youngsters were assured of a job fetching them a minimum income of ₹8,000. “Training and placement are monitored by us,” he said.