About Child marriages: In Assam, The Answer Is Schools, Not Jails

Source: The post is based on the article “In Assam, The Answer Is Schools, Not Jails” published in The Times of India on 10th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS 2 – Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes.

Relevance: About early child marriages.

News: Thousands are being arrested in Assam as part of a crackdown on child marriage.

Why arrest is not a correct solution for reducing early child marriages?

Studies from across the world and in India have shown that educational attainment and the socio-economic status of a household are the most significant correlates of child marriage.

People, mostly the poorest, are being punished through the arrests, for the state’s failure to provide good quality schooling and health facilities and its inability to empower its women.

How educational backwardness in Assam led to early child marriages?

Almost 86% of Assam’s population is rural. The state also has among the largest proportion of rural women who haven’t completed 10 or more years of schooling, roughly 74%.

According to the latest National Family Health Survey (2019-21), about one-third of rural women in the 20-24 age group in Assam were married before the age of 18.

Based on the recommendations of Niti Aayog, the Assam government shut down 1,700 government-run elementary schools and merged them with neighbouring schools as a part of the school’s ‘rationalisation’ plan. Such mergers usually hurt girl students the most as they often have to travel long distances to go to school.

About child marriages in other states

According to the UNICEF study on child marriages in India, “among individual characteristics, the level of education of females has the most profound impact on the age they marry, irrespective of household wealth, locality and other characteristics.”

Though a Muslim girl can marry on completing 15 years or when she attains puberty according to Muslim personal law – a provision being challenged before the Supreme Court – child marriage is not exclusive to the community.  According to the 2011 Census, 84% of the 12 million children (7. 8 million girls) who married before 10 years in India were Hindus and mostly from rural India.

There are only two states – West Bengal (48%) and Jharkhand (36%) – with a higher proportion of rural women in the 20-24 age group who were married before 18. They also have roughly the same proportion of women who did not complete more than 10 years of schooling as Assam, about 74%.

What are the other reasons for early child marriages?

The other reasons are, a) Limited paid work opportunities for women and girls. For example, Assam has the second lowest female worker population ratio of just 14.2%, b) Poor quality and inaccessibility of facilities and services, whether in health or education.

The state governments should invest in more schools and improve the condition of existing schools