Odisha’s Ganjam Now Child Marriage-Free; Reward For Informers Hiked

Berhampur: The district administration on Monday declared Ganjam, a child marriage-free district.

This was announced by Ganjam Collector Vijay Amrit Kulange, who also increased the reward for informers about the child marriage to Rs 50,000 from Rs 5,000.

The district stopped 45 child marriage attempt during 2019 after introduction of ‘Nirbhaya Kadhi’ scheme. The number went up to 228 during 2020 and 201 during 2021.

A total of 3309 villages, 280 wards in the urban areas and 503 panchayats in Ganjam have been declared child marriage-free, official sources said.

According to an order by the collectorate, 14,422 meetings were held in the district during the last two years to make strategy and curb child marriages.