Bhubaneswar: Subarnapur, a district in Odisha, was facing the issue of school dropouts by girl students. This was due to child marriage and early pregnancies. Many of those girls wanted to study but their parents forced them into marriage.

The dropping numbers of girls in schools became a worry for the District Administration. To check dropouts, District Magistrate Aboli Naravane started an initiative called ‘Mission Zero Dropout.’ The initiative was launched mainly to create awareness among parents and students about the importance of education and prevent child marriages and early teenage pregnancies in the district.

‘Under Mission Zero Dropout’ dropout girls were enrolled back in schools. In many instances, few girls dropped twice from the school. However, the District Administration made a special arrangement for them and they were allowed to enrol back. Those girls who enrolled back were given special assistance by the teachers.

Also, the girls who passed their 10th standard and do not get enrolled in colleges, a special arrangement of enrolling them in Industrial Training Institute (ITI) has been made. DM Naravane said: “We are also helping students with poor financial backgrounds in getting admission in good colleges across the state.”

Along with this, a special intelligence network of Anganwadi workers has also been created to stop child marriages immediately as the information comes. Counselling sessions are held in cases of girls running away from home.

“Girls are even rescued after getting married with the help of the court. Parents of those girls are also counselled so that they don’t put any pressure on their child to get married early,” said Naravane, stating that as a result of the initiative, almost 80 per cent of dropout girls have enrolled themselves back in their respective schools.

As per an estimate, if the current trends of child marriages continue worldwide, the number of girls and women married as children will reach nearly one billion by 2030 – one billion childhoods lost, one billion futures blighted.

In India, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 prohibits the solemnization of child marriages where a person who, if a female has not completed 18 years of age and if a male has not completed 21 years of age. As per provisions of the Act, child marriage is a cognizable and non-bailable offence. /BI/