To stop child marriages, last year Bharatpur administration came with a novel idea of mandating all printers printing wedding card, to make sure the date of birth of the Bridegroom and Bride are printed on the wedding cards. Not only that the printers were mandated to obtain proof of DoB and keep it in records. (How legal it was – probably another story). This measure was adopted by the administration just before Akshaya Tritiya date. In Rajasthan and several other north Indian states a large number of marriages take place. This helped in postponement of a number of marriages, as administration launched a drive to ensure that the measure was strictly enforced.
It is to be seen, whether the same measure would be found being adopted in other parts of the State, or if the Govt will succumb to the lobby it must have faced from the community. Or has the community found alternative ways to overcome this measure. One supposes, that while such measures may succeed in short-term certainly there is no alternative to enhancing education and long & sustained campaign of the ill-effects of the child marriage.
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