Rajasthan HC makes village heads 'accountable' for child marriages

By Jitendra Parmar*
Ahead of Akshaya Tritiya (May 10), the Rajasthan High Court has taken a bold stand against child marriages, making panches and sarpanches accountable if they fail to prevent child marriages, even as asking child marriage prohibition officers (CMPOs) to report about child marriages held and their efforts taken to prevent them. The High Court order follows a PIL filed by the Just Rights For Children Alliance.
Terming the current state of child marriages in the state as alarming, the High Court in its urgent order directed the state government to ensure that no child marriages occur in Rajasthan during the upcoming Akshaya Tritiya, and made panches and sarpanches (village heads) accountable if they fail to prevent these.
The order comes following a PIL filed by Just Rights For Children Alliance which sought urgent intervention so that child marriages could be stopped from being solemnized during the auspicious festival of Akshaya Tritiya or Akha Teej falling on May 10 this year.
The division bench comprising Justices Shubha Mehta and Pankaj Bhandari also directed the authorities to keep an ‘hawk’s eye’ on a masked list provided by the petitioners which lists 54 child marriages which have been/ will be held on Akha Teej. While 46 of the child marriages are yet to take place, remaining have already been solemnized.
“A report should be called from the CMPOs with regard to child marriages which had taken place in his jurisdiction and the efforts taken by him in preventing the same,” the order said. It also ordered that the state government should ensure that the scheduled marriage of the 46 children from the list should not take place.

While the division bench noted that the efforts of state authorities have been instrumental in bringing down the number of child marriages in the state, still a lot required to be done. As per the National Health Family Survey V (2019-21), 25.4 percent of women in the age group 20-24 years were married before 18 in Rajasthan while the same stands at 23.3 percent at national level.
Bhuwan Ribhu, founder, Just Rights for Children Alliance said:

“Child marriage is the most pervasive and heinous crime that is socially acceptable in our community. It is a landmark step by the Rajasthan High Court that affixes responsibility of reporting such marriages on the panches and sarpanches, and it is only with their participation and understanding that action against this crime will lead to behaviour change for the protection of children. The way India has been taking steps to end child marriage is a lesson for the entire world, and Rajasthan High Court’s order is yet another significant stride in this direction.”
The Just Rights for Children Alliance is a nationwide coalition of 120 NGOs working on child protection issues such as child sexual abuse, child marriage and child trafficking.
The order comes at a crucial time as the incidents of child marriages see a sharp spike during Akshaya Tritiya and the government agencies as well as NGOs working at grassroots levels have been campaigning to prevent such marriages from being held.
---
*With Bachpan Bachao Andolan

Comments

Grueling summer ahead: Cuttack’s alarming health trends and what they mean for Odisha

By Sudhansu R Das The preparation to face the summer should begin early in Odisha. People in the state endure long, grueling summer months starting from mid-February and extending until the end of October. This prolonged heat adversely affects productivity, causes deaths and diseases, and impacts agriculture, tourism and the unorganized sector. The social, economic and cultural life of the state remains severely disrupted during the peak heat months.

Stronger India–Russia partnership highlights a missed energy breakthrough

By N.S. Venkataraman* The recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India was widely publicized across several countries and has attracted significant global attention. The warmth with which Mr. Putin was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was particularly noted, prompting policy planners worldwide to examine the implications of this cordial relationship for the global economy and political climate. India–Russia relations have stood on a strong foundation for decades and have consistently withstood geopolitical shifts. This is in marked contrast to India’s ties with the United States, which have experienced fluctuations under different U.S. administrations.

From natural farming to fair prices: Young entrepreneurs show a new path

By Bharat Dogra There have been frequent debates on agro-business companies not showing adequate concern for the livelihoods of small farmers. Farmers’ unions have often protested—generally with good reason—that while they do not receive fair returns despite high risks and hard work, corporate interests that merely process the crops produced by farmers earn disproportionately high profits. Hence, there is a growing demand for alternative models of agro-business development that demonstrate genuine commitment to protecting farmer livelihoods.

The Vande Mataram debate and the politics of manufactured controversy

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The recent Vande Mataram debate in Parliament was never meant to foster genuine dialogue. Each political party spoke past the other, addressing its own constituency, ensuring that clips went viral rather than contributing to meaningful deliberation. The objective was clear: to construct a Hindutva narrative ahead of the Bengal elections. Predictably, the Lok Sabha will likely expunge the opposition’s “controversial” remarks while retaining blatant inaccuracies voiced by ministers and ruling-party members. The BJP has mastered the art of inserting distortions into parliamentary records to provide them with a veneer of historical legitimacy.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

The cost of being Indian: How inequality and market logic redefine rights

By Vikas Gupta We, the people of India, are engaged in a daily tryst—read: struggle—for basic human rights. For the seemingly well-to-do, the wish list includes constant water supply, clean air, safe roads, punctual public transportation, and crime-free neighbourhoods. For those further down the ladder, the struggle is starker: food that fills the stomach, water that doesn’t sicken, medicines that don’t kill, houses that don’t flood, habitats at safe distances from polluted streams or garbage piles, and exploitation-free environments in the public institutions they are compelled to navigate.

Why India must urgently strengthen its policies for an ageing population

By Bharat Dogra A quiet but far-reaching demographic transformation is reshaping much of the world. As life expectancy rises and birth rates fall, societies are witnessing a rapid increase in the proportion of older people. This shift has profound implications for public policy, and the need to strengthen frameworks for healthy and secure ageing has never been more urgent. India is among the countries where these pressures will intensify most sharply in the coming decades.

Thota Sitaramaiah: An internal pillar of an underground organisation

By Harsh Thakor* Thota Sitaramaiah was regarded within his circles as an example of the many individuals whose work in various underground movements remained largely unknown to the wider public. While some leaders become visible through organisational roles or media attention, many others contribute quietly, without public recognition. Sitaramaiah was considered one such figure. He passed away on December 8, 2025, at the age of 65.

Proposals for Babri Masjid, Ram Temple spark fears of polarisation before West Bengal polls

By A Representative A political debate has emerged in West Bengal following recent announcements about plans for new religious structures in Murshidabad district, including a proposed mosque to be named Babri Masjid and a separate announcement by a BJP leader regarding the construction of a Ram temple in another location within Behrampur.

Search This Blog