Over 11,000 children in Odisha vulnerable to child marriages, reveals NCPCR report

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has revealed that over 11,000 children in Odisha are vulnerable to child marriages. The statistics came to the fore in the commission’s ‘Comprehensive report of virtual review meetings on child marriage with districts all over India for 2023-24’, and was recently released on its website.

The NCPCR took into account the fact that about 11,053 children were absent from school for 30 consecutive days without notice during the 2023-24 session or had dropped out. 

The nationwide survey was undertaken with the cooperation of the respective state governments and aimed at establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent child marriages in India.

As such, in Odisha, the survey mapped 26,415 schools across 19,683 villages and blocks. Further, the data was collected from all 30 districts of the state with over 66,000 people surveyed, finding 11,053 children at risk.

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Meanwhile, across India, more than 11 lakh students were either absent for a month or dropped out, often due to child marriage.

Additionally, over 5 lakh children were found to be vulnerable in Uttar Pradesh whereas Odisha’s neighbours, West Bengal recorded over 37,900, Chhattisgarh identified more than 13, 200, and Jharkhand found close to 52,000 children vulnerable to child marriage.