Girl Child Marriage Rate Highest Among SC/ST: NCPCR

New Delhi: The prevalence of child marriage in India is the highest amongst Scheduled Tribe girls (15 percent) followed by Scheduled Castes (13 percent), according to a report released by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

The report which was released on the NCPCR website on Wednesday is based on a comparative analysis of data on child marriage in the 15-19 age group from the third and fourth rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NHFS) conducted in 2005-2006 and 2015-16. The report has been prepared by Young Lives India, a research center, in collaboration with the NCPCR. According to the report, this phenomenon is evident among the top 10 states with the highest prevalence of child marriage.

West Bengal has the highest rate of child marriage amongst SC girls, while in Arunachal Pradesh it is highest among Scheduled Tribes. In other cases, Maharashtra has the highest percentage of girl child marriage. Furthermore, Bihar, Gujarat, and Telangana report a very high prevalence of child marriages amongst OBC girls below the age of 18. In 13 states and one UT, more than 40 percent of the child marriages took place amongst the bottom wealth tercile households. (IANS)