Assam: Proactive measures taken to sensitize students on child marriage

A CORRESPONDENT

NAHARKATIA: Moran Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Charaideo in collaboration with District Hub for Women Empowerment (DHEW), Sivasagar under the Women and Child Development Department of the Government of Assam organized a one-day sensitization workshop for its students on Friday. UNICEF Assam extended its technical support in organizing the event.

In conversation with the media, Jayashri Phukan, Principal in-charge of Moran Mahila Mahavidyalaya said, "Being an all-girls college, we feel our responsibility goes beyond the classroom teaching and we need to sensitize the community at large on issues that affect the girls most. Child marriage is one such issue and the cases of child marriage are quite high in the State compared to the national rate (as per NFHS – 5 data), although Charaideo district has done significant improvement over the last few years and as per the latest data of NFHS -5, the rate of child marriage in the district is 22.6%, however, the overall rate of child marriage in Assam is still around 31.8% and there are districts where it is even more alarmingly high.

So, as an educational institution and an important stakeholder in society, we believe that we have a responsibility to contribute to the efforts of the government toward ending child marriage. That is when we decided to work on the issues and bring awareness on the ill effects of child marriage. I acknowledge the support of DHEW, Sivasagar, and UNICEF Assam for their support. As there is no DHEW formed in Charaideo yet so we coordinated the programme with the adjoining DHEW, Sivasagar district who readily extended their support by going beyond their official jurisdiction."

Along with the faculties, more than 300 students of intermediate and degree levels attended the one-day orientation session. DHEW, Sivasagar, and UNICEF Assam extended their technical support in making the children aware of all aspects related to child marriage. Apart from sharing the causes of child marriage, its consequences, and how to combat the menace, resource persons also shared how students themselves can also be part of making the people aware of the issue. Bidisha Dutta, District Mission Coordinator of DHEW Sivasagar shared that DHEW along with its state entity State Hub for Empowerment of Women (SHEW) has been entrusted to implement the recently launched programme called Mission Shakti in the entire state of Assam, and Mission Shakti is an ambitious programme that aims to empower women of all ages by taking every possible means and support a girl or a woman throughout her life cycle. In that way, it is quite a vast programme and Mission Shakti emphasizes on every single issue that comes in the way of the development of a woman.

Also Read:  Steps to stop child marriages in Assam discussed

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