In 5 Years, Documents Ensured An Odisha Village Was Free From Child Marriage

Thianal village is located in Odisha¡¯s Deogarh district. 70 odd families reside here and farming and livestock rearing is how they earn their daily bread. This village looks like any other until one sees a poster that declares the village as the ¡®First Child Marriage Free Village¡¯ of the district, as per The Better India.

In the state of Odisha, it is the second child marriage-free village after Rugudipalli in the Subarnapur district.

Around 5 years ago, child marriages were pretty common in Thianal. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) ¡ª 4 released in 2015-16 stated that Deogarh district had reported a child marriage rate of 23.4%, higher than the state average of 21.3%.

But in the last 5 years, 370 villages have been declared ¡®Child Marriage Free¡¯.

Proper documentation

How did Thanial get free? Through proper documentation.

The Better India

¡°Most people in our villages didn¡¯t know that there was a legal age in marriage. Almost all marriages in our parent¡¯s generation happened when both the bride and groom were minors. Though the cases dropped after some years, early marriage was still common as there was no means of verification. So, now we have made Aadhar card verification mandatory before finalising any marriage. We figured this would be the best way to ascertain the age of the bride and the groom,¡± says Ajit Pradhan, a resident of the village, who was one of those who took the initiative.

¡°For example, if a boy of our village is getting married to a girl in Kantapalli panchayat in our district, we directly dial the Sarpanch or Anganwadi or Asha worker and ask them to ascertain the girl¡¯s age through document verification,¡± he added.

2 youths from Thanial attended a District Level Sensitisation programme and that opened their eyes to lay down the blueprint to track child marriages in the village. The Village Level Task Force was formed in early 2020.

The Better India

Then the district administration was approached for a ¡®Child Marriage Free¡¯ tag. When the District Child Protection Officer verified it, in late 2020, the village got the tag.

¡°This model has worked for us. When people take onus, the accountability is much higher. So, the administration remains in the background. Of course, we keep track and interfere whenever necessary,¡± said Romeo Mohapatra who is the District Child Protection Officer in Deogarh.

This is a great step taken by the village and it is winning the fight against child marriage.

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