Odisha has reported 68 cases of child marriage in three years period accounting for 3.7% cases registered in the country under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
As per the country-wide statistics, 1,795 child marriages were reported from 2018 to 2020 of which Odisha accounted for 68 cases only.
Meanwhile, the women and child development department claimed that it has managed to make over 10,000 villages child-marriage free due to joint initiative of government functionaries, mission shakthi groups, PRI representatives and civil society groups.
According to the National Family Health Survey-4 conducted in 2015-16, the rate of child marriage among girls in Odisha was 21.3, lower than the national average of 26.8.
The child marriage rates among girls had come down to 20.5. Therefore, the State has performed well in preventing marriages among girls below the age of 18 years, the officials said.
The Nabarangpur with 39.4% has logged the highest child marriage incidents followed by Nayagarh (35.7%), Koraput (35.5%), Malkangiri (32.4%), Rayagada (33.2%) and Mayurbhanj (31.2%). Besides, Balasore, Boudh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Dhenkanal, Angul and Ganjam reported more than 20% child marriage cases.