An orientation workshop was organized at the Government Anganwadi Workers Training Center, Pawarkheda on the subject of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2006 under the auspices of the Women and Child Development Department. District Program Officer Women and Child Development Lalit Kumar Dehria, Assistant Director Satish Bhargava, Chief Director Anganwadi Center Pawarkheda Rakesh Sharma, Child Development Project Officer Ramkumar Soni and Pramod Gaur were present in the workshop.
Addressing the workshop, Mr. Dehria gave detailed information about the basic spirit of the Act to the participants present about the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006. It was told that under this Act, marriage of a child under 21 years of age and a girl under 18 is called child marriage. Child marriage will be voidable under this act, if a child is a minor in this regard, his / her guardian or a friend can file an application in the court if the child marriage of a female party is declared void, then the court will make the male party a woman May issue maintenance orders until the party remarries. According to this Act, any person who conducts a child marriage or is involved in child marriage, will be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years and a fine which may extend to one lakh rupees.
Addressing the participants in the workshop, Mr. Bhargava, while addressing the ill effects of child marriage, said that child marriage has only side effects. Due to child marriage, girls become pregnant at an early age, while their mental and physical development is not complete. Due to child marriage, young girls die prematurely. A child born to a young mother is more likely to be underweight or malnourished at birth. At the age of playing and reading and writing, they are expected to behave like elders and lose their childhood. All of us should raise our voice against child marriage. If child marriage takes place somewhere, it should be opposed, only by spreading awareness against the evils like child marriage in the society can we end it.
What is Lado Abhiyan:
Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country to launch Lado Abhiyan in 2013 to prevent child marriage. The main objective of the Lado Abhiyan is to end community malpractices like child marriage with positive changes in the mindset of the community. For effective implementation of the campaign, the participants have to be sensitized about the campaign by organizing the workshop of district, block, school, village level and service providers.
Along with various mediums such as wall writing, awareness rally, Rath Yatra, pledge not to do child marriages in government / religious programs, jingles, documentaries, street plays, hoardings and advertisements in dailies in various mediums like service providers shops and prominent places. It tries to reach the general public by spreading the message of Lado campaign. This campaign plays an important role in the effective implementation of the Child Marriage Act for girls below 18 years of age and children under 21 years as per the Child Marriage Voters Act-2006.
Some facts about Lado Abhiyan
In 2014, under the Lado campaign, for the effective implementation of child marriage, the Prime Minister was awarded for the outstanding work of public administration.
In view of the unprecedented success of the implementation of the Lado Abhiyan by the Government of India, the Lado Abhiyan was awarded the CAPAM Award in the year 2016 in Citizen Focus Innovation under the International "Commonwealth Association for Administration and Management".
M.P. Implementation of prevention of child marriage under the Lado campaign of the state was praised by field visits by state government representatives of Haryana, Tripura and Assam.
A study was conducted by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) Hyderabad regarding implementation of Lado Abhiyan in other states as per the instructions of the Government of India. (ASCI) Hyderabad, praised the Lado campaign in the study and shared its experiences in national level meetings.
Cooperation is being sought for not providing services in child marriage of service providers Dharmaguru, marriage garden / Dharamshala, bandwale, catering, beauty parlor, salon, printing press, head of society, etc. under Lado Abhiyan. In shops / places "Child marriage law is a crime, we service providers oppose child marriage, related wall writing has been done.
In child marriage prevention, children are being supported by making them brand ambassadors. Through the efforts of the Brand Ambassador, children are playing an important role in stopping child marriages of their own and other children in the area.
With the effective implementation of the Lado campaign where child marriages were 42 per cent in AHS 2012-13, according to NFHS 4, the rate of child marriages has been reduced by 12 per cent to 30 per cent in 2015-2016.
