Despite the various steps and actions taken by the government and a ban on it by the state government, child marriages still occur quite commonly throughout Manipur with the violators rarely reported, rarely prosecuted. Hence, the government is unable to put an end to it.
According to available data from state machinery, there are 106 child marriage cases in four districts of Manipur out of 16 districts.
To end child marriage in Manipur, different stakeholders including Manipur Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Social Welfare department conducted awareness, workshop and sensitisation programmes in the state since years back.
Continuing such steps, the Manipur Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MCPCR), in association with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, conducted a ‘One day state level sensitisation cum consultation workshop on preventing child marriage in Manipur’ on Friday at the Manipur Press Club in Imphal. The aim was to get suggestions and recommendations from different stakeholders to enable prevention of child marriage.
Social Welfare department director Ng Uttam, acknowledging the facts of child marriage still happening in the state, said that despite the existence of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, which was enacted in 2006 by the Indian Parliament with the objective of curbing the instances of child marriage in Manipur and as well as in India, but the achievement of this act, in terms of fulfilling its aim, what has always been a topic for debate.
Child marriage destroys the childhood of the child, tampering with their right to health, education, privacy, protection and much more. Child Marriage is one such practice that should be stopped at any cost, he said.
He said for improving prevention of child marriage, officials in every districts, such as ADMs, ADCs and even panchayat secretaries will select as child marriage prevention officer to help fight against child marriage and put an end to it at the grassroots level.
MCPCR chairperson Keisam Pradipkumar clarified that historic incident or event of child marriage has changed in Manipur. Child marriage in Manipur is early marriage, i.e., before the marriageable age (18 years for girl and 21 years for boy), he said.
“We have an apprehension of facing more numbers of child marriage due to effect or negative impact of ongoing conflict in Manipur”, Pradipkumar said. So, the workshop has been conducted for taking recommendation in combating child marriage, he added.
He said there are a number of unreported child marriages though in reported cases, Thoubal district has the highest rate of early child marriage.
During the technical session, advocate and also former chairperson of CWC, Thiyam Rajkishore spoke on prevention of child marriage and laws to mitigate menace (prohibition of child marriage amendment 2021); Sobita Mangsatabam on understanding the problem of child marriage in Manipur; Imphal East Child Marriage Prevention Officer, Reena Moirangthem spoke on monitoring the impact of child marriage with evidence and research and MCPCR chairperson Keisam Pradipkumar spoke on MCPCR/ NCPCR and safeguarding child rights and laws.
