Awareness drive launched to eradicate child marriage

Coimbatore: To eradicate the evil of child marriage, volunteers of NGO Childline India created awareness at Madukkarai panchayat on Saturday.
In view of reports about the rising number of child marriages during the lockdown period in Tamil Nadu, the district administration has taken stringent steps, a social welfare department official said. “We roped in Childline to educate the public,” he told TOI.
The officials had managed to stop as many as 11 child marriages five in January, one in May and five in June. Most of the cases were reported from Madukkarai, Sulur and Karamadai.
Apart from making public announcements about the consequences of child marriage and punishment under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, pamphlets were also distributed. Posters were stuck at government offices, taluk office, ration shops, primary health centres and police stations.
“The campaign was started a couple of days ago. We will soon cover all areas in the district,” the official said.
Earlier this year, the district administration had formed district task force, a 16-member committee, to check child marriages. It was a part of the adolescent empowerment programme launched with the support of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef).