Girl child marriage highest in Jharkhand, govt seems indifferent – Lagatar English

MANISH GUPTA

Ranchi, Sept 26: Jharkhand has the highest percentage of girls being married before they attain 18 years of age, as per the latest demographic survey brought out by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs.

“The percentage of females who got effectively married before reaching 18 years of age is 1.9 at the national level and varies from 0.0 in Kerala to 5.8 in Jharkhand (among 22 big states),” said the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2020.

The report aims to provide reliable annual estimates of birth rate, death rate, infant mortality rate and various other fertility and mortality indicators. It is one of the largest demographic surveys in the world covering about 8.4 million sample population.

The percentage of underage girls being married in Jharkhand is 5.8% (7.3% in rural and 3% in urban). The corresponding figures are 1.9% for all of India with 2.2% in rural India and 1.2% in urban India. More than half of the girls here get married before 21.

There are only two states where more than 50% of the girls get married before they turn 21 and these are Jharkhand (54.6%) and West Bengal (54.9%). India average is 29.5%. Both account for the lowest mean age of marriage at 21 for the entire girl population.

In rural Jharkhand, two-thirds of the girls (66.2%) get married before they turn 21. On the other hand, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) had 90.7% female population marrying after 21 years of age. The state's mean age of marriage is 26 years, as per the report.

Jharkhand Minister of Women, Child Development and Social Security Joba Majhi disconnected the phone after listening to the question related to the state government's efforts in preventing the practice. On being contacted again, she asked to get back later.

Similar was the response by Women, Child Development and Social Security Secretary Kripa Nand Jha. He asked to get back a day later. 

Another startling revelation from the demographic survey was the fact that Jharkhand had the lowest percentage of live births where mothers received medical attention at delivery at government or private hospitals. In 2020, it was 62.3% in Jharkhand, while it was 99.9% in Kerala and the pan India figure stood at 82.6%.