Tamil Nadu: A letter to prevent child marriage

CHENNAI: A couple of years ago, Saraswathi (name changed), a school student from Tiruvallur was about to get married off by her parents. Luckily, the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) foiled the attempt and now she is an under graduate student.
However, not all are as lucky as Saraswathi. To help the girls in Tiruvallur escape from the clutches of child marriage, the district administration has started a post card campaign in government schools for girls.As part of this initiative, the parents are asked to post a letter to the district collector, promising that they will not get their school/college going daughters married.
Touted as the first in the state, the initiative was launched at the Tiruttani Girls Higher Secondary School a few days ago and cards were distributed to 1,200 students in Classes from VIII to XII. The cards will be given to girl students in all schools in the district in the coming days.
“Approximately 300 cards have been received by the district administration till date,” said K Lalitha, Project Officer, Integrated Child Development Scheme holding additional charge of District Social Welfare Officer.
This will serve as a binding document and parents will be held responsible if the child is married before she attains the legal age. “We have asked the district education officer to inform us if any girl child is absent for more than ten days. We will check if she has been pushed into marriage,” Lalitha.
The district administration headed by collector Alby John Varghese decided to launch the initiative as more than 60 girls were rescued from child marriage last year. “Of this, 35 were from taluks such as Tiruttani, R K Pet and Pallipattu. A few days ago we stopped three child marriages from these areas,” she added.
Most of the families get their girl children married due to poverty. “Besides, there are very few opportunities for higher education or skill development in these three taluks. A girl must travel quite a distance to pursue them,” added an official from the social welfare department.
Alby John Varghese said that apart from this panchayat leaders have been asked to take a pledge to prevent child marriages in their limits. “We also held an awareness programme for religious leaders,” he added.