Child Marriages in Andhra Pradesh: Small gains, significant challenges

ANDHRA Pradesh has made significant progress in reducing child marriages over the past two decades but remains a high-burdened State.

- K KALYAN KRISHNA KUMAR @ Vijayawada

A recent United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) report revealed that 29 per cent of women aged from 20 to 24 in Andhra Pradesh were married before the age of 18, placing the State sixth in the country for child marriage prevalence.

Though child marriages came down in the State from 60 per cent 25 years back to 50 per cent a decade ago to 30 percent now, Andhra Pradesh remains a high-burden State, with its child marriage rate surpassing the national average of 23 per cent.

NGOs, however, dispute the reported figures, arguing that unauthorised child marriages are being conducted at actual figures may be at least 10 times higher than the official data reported by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on which the UNICEF report is based.

The report highlights stark disparities within the State.