Assam has witnessed a noteworthy drop in
maternal mortalities by over 33 per cent and child deaths by nearly 15 per cent
since the launch of a crackdown on child marriage in the State this year, said Chief
Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
He reaffirmed the State Government’s
goal of eradicating the social ill of child marriage by 2026, with more than
5,000 people already arrested.
“Child marriage is a social evil, which
also manifests undesirable health outcomes such as high infant and maternal
mortality rates,” the Assam CM said on X.
“Our crackdown has yielded encouraging
results in women & child health sphere. By 2026, Assam will end this abhorrent
practice,” he said.
CM Himanta said Assam has a higher
infant mortality rate (IMR) and maternal mortality rate (MMR) than the national
average, and it is “more prevalent in certain districts as compared to others”.
The primary reason for the high IMR and
MMR is child marriage, he said.
The under-5 mortality figures in 2020
was 40 per cent in the state against the national average of 32 per cent, the
chief minister said.
Listing some of the measures taken by
the state government to curb the menace, Dr HImanta said above 5,000 people
have been arrested in a massive crackdown in multiple phases against child
marriage.
The Assam Government has also designated
gram panchayat secretaries as Child Marriage Prevention (Prohibition) Officers,
he said.
As a result, there has been a 33.4-per
cent decline in the number of maternal deaths from 766 in 2021-22 to 510 in
2022-23. There has also been a 14.7-per cent fall in the number of child deaths
from 7,872 in 2021-22 to 6,718 in 2022-23, he said.
The crackdown against child marriage and
teenage pregnancy will continue till the government achieves its goal of
eradicating these by 2026, the CM added.
PTI
