Why is child marriage still high in West Bengal? | Explained

West Bengal struggles to reduce child marriage despite policy interventions & social campaigns; UN award-winning Kanyashree scheme & PCMA 2006 fail to curb the issue.

The story so far: A recent study on child marriage in India published in the Lancet noted the overall decrease in child marriage across the country but pointed out that four States, mainly Bihar (16.7%), West Bengal (15.2%), Uttar Pradesh (12.5%), and Maharashtra (8.2%) accounted for more than half of the total headcount burden of child marriages in girls.

The paper titled ‘Prevalence of girl and boy child marriage across States and Union Territories in India, 1993–2021: a repeated cross-sectional study’ highlights that one in five girls are still married below legal age in India. The publication states that while some States have achieved dramatic decreases in prevalence and headcount for child marriage in girls, “other states have struggled, such as West Bengal”.

“The largest absolute increase in headcount was observed in West Bengal, representing an increase of 32.3% in headcount (difference n=500346 )...West Bengal saw the largest absolute increase with over 5,00,000 more girls getting married as children,” the paper said. Child marriage, particularly girl child marriage, has posed a challenge for policy-makers in West Bengal for decades. The National Family Health Survey-5 carried out in 2019-20, points out that the women aged 20-24 years who were married before the age of 18 years in West Bengal remains one of the highest in the country at 41.6%. The percentage was the same during the National Family Health Survey- 4. The all-India figure of women aged 20-24 years getting married before they turn 18 is pegged at 23.3%.

While child marriage is considered a human rights violation and a recognised form of sexual and gender-based violence, the adverse impact of child marriage is manifested across maternal and child health in the State.

Days before the Lancet study was published, 10 infants died at Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in a span of 24 hours. The hospital authorities said the majority of the children were born with extremely low birth weight. Amit Dan, principal of the medical college, said one of the babies was born weighing only 480 grams. “We could not save the child. What we are dealing with is a social problem. Because of child marriage and poverty, children are born with a low birth weight and sometimes doctors are not able to save them,” Dr. Dan said.

Murshidabad, one of the economically poorer districts of the State, has one of the highest numbers of child marriages in West Bengal. The NFHS - 5 points out that 55.4% of women aged 20-24 years are married before the age of 18 years in the district. The district saw a rise from NFHS-4 numbers, which stood at 53.5 %.

The West Bengal government has made a number of policy interventions to stop child marriage. Launched in October 2013, Kanyashree Prakalpa is a conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at incentivising the schooling of all teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 18, and simultaneously discouraging child marriage. The scheme has completed 10 years and was recognised at an international level with a United Nations Public Service Award 2017. The West Bengal Budget for the year 2023-24 said the scheme has covered 81 lakh girls.