Increase of Child Marriages in Krishna and Guntur Districts of Andhra Pradesh

It is really surprising that the number of child marriages has been increasing in Krishna and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh. I was really shocked after hearing this as we are living in the 21st century.

According to the report submitted by Krishna Kumari, Project Director of Krishna district stated that in Krishna district 107 child marriages were stopped by the police. Whereas in Guntur district, the count was 73. Circle Inspector of Mangalagiri Shri. Ramesh Babu said that they failed to stop few child marriages which were performed secretly. He appreciated the efforts of youth who informed them about the child marriages that were happening in their locality.

The reports even say that there has been an increase in the rate of school drop outs among girls since 2015. Even today some of the parents of rural areas are not seniding their daughters to higher studies after 10th Standard.

Mrs.Nirmala, Project director, Guntur District said that "In some rural areas of the district girls are getting married at the age of 14-15". She also stated some reasons for these child marriages,

• Rural parents feel that the girl child is a burden.
• The other reason is most of the rural girls who are under 18 involving in Love affairs which are a headache to parents. Many incidents have been taken place in the past few years.
• Poverty is also considered as one of the reasons.

Mr.S.Bala Krishna, Biology teacher opined that Girls face many problems wif they get married under 18 years. The major problems that are stated by Mr.Bala Krishna are;

• Underage Pregnancy
• Decline in Nutrition Levels

Whatever the reasons might be there are still some rural areas of India where girls are forcibly married at an early age which results in a lot of issues. I feel that it is not only the responsibility of the government to stop child marriages but also the responsibility of society.The parents who want to perform child marriage to their daughters must think about the education of their daughter. If she is interested to go for higher studies, the parents must not force her to child marriage.

Source: Sakunth Kumar, City Journalist - Vijaywada, CollegeDekho