Child
marriage is still a widespread practice in India, even though it was prohibited
in 2006 with The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
One of the main reasons why child marriage still occurs is that it is a social
costume and therefore it is difficult to eradicate with a law. Another
important reason is that other alternatives such as education are not easily
accessible for children from marginal groups. A study has been carried out in
New Delhi in 2008 regarding dropout cases in slum schools. It has been found
that 57,6% of the children who dropped out school (in most cases in Grade IX) were girls. The reasons of the
drop-out are often related mainly to the financial constraint of the family.
Families from marginal groups find difficult to pay school fees and other
costs. In addition, the distance and not-so-safe road to reach
the school has been addressed as one of the main reasons that leads girls to
drop out. In fact, secondary schools are usually far away and girls claimed
that they do not feel safe on the way to school and even that they fear to be
assaulted. That
is why many parents in India decide to marry their daughters when they are
still children because they believe there is no other good option for a girl
rather than marriage.
The government is trying to subsidize
parents to keep their daughter in schools, as they are still children with a development scheme called Sukanya Samriddhi launched in January 2015. Parents can open an
account for their daughter until she is no more than 10 years old. The minimum amount
that has to be deposited every year is of Rs. 1000 and can be maximum Rs.
1,500,000 and the interest rate is 9.2 per cent. Money must be deposited for 14
years and the maturity duration is reached when the girl turns 21. It follows
that after 14 years it is no more necessary to deposit any money but the
interest will keep increasing for 7 more years.
Parents should be more
likely to postpone the marriage after the girl has reached the age for the
maturity of the account because they can use that amount of money to pay the
marriage. Indeed, it is for economic reasons that lot of weddings take place
when the girl is still a child; since weddings are expensive ceremonies and the dowry amount is
low if the bride is still young, families tend to marry their younger children
together with other older siblings’ weddings. Therefore, Sukanya Samriddhi scheme
should deter parents from marry their daughters when they are still children.
In this way, girls will remain in school longer and have a better education,
which will give them the opportunity to find a better job.
Moreover, the scheme allows
a partial amount (50 per cent) for withdrawal if the girl has turned 18, only
if she intends to marry or for paying further education. This can help families
to pay the tuition for their daughters’ higher education if they cannot afford
it.
However, we
found out that few people seem to be aware of this government scheme at the
moment and that is why Heeals is going to explain it
during the workshop about WASH, MHM and Child Marriage that will take place this
month in some slum schools. Our aim is to help girl children remain in school, and
to increase awareness of government programmes that they can take advantage of.
Marriage should not take
place when a girl is still a child and should not be a solution to keep her
safe.
Heeals Intern
Sources:
HEEALS Picture .
Rego, Anil. “Is Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme the best
investment for your girl child?”. Rediff,
13 March 2015. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. <http://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/money-is-sukanya-samriddhi-scheme-the-best-investment-for-your-girl-child/20150313.htm>
