Bhubaneswar, April 12 -- With the Government adopting a proactive and multi-pronged approach to eradicate child marriage with focus on both preventive strategies and community- led transformation, as many as 13,563 villages in 23 districts have become child-marriage-free regions, an official said today.
The practice of giving girl children in marriage below the legally permissible age of 18 remains one of Odisha's most urgent gender and child rights challenges.
Despite legal protections and developmental progress, entrenched social norms, poverty, and gender inequality continue to limit opportunities and threaten the future of adolescent girls, added the officials.
The State Government's effort efforts over the years to end child marriag...