'End of child marriage necessary for children's development'

By Dharbendra Jha, Janakpurdham, Sept 18: Speakers have emphasized that the end of child marriage is necessary for the all-around development of children fro which needs special strictness from the school level in Madhesh province.

The participants in the consultation meeting regarding a child marriage-free municipality in Janakpurdham, the capital of Madhesh province under the coordination of the Ministry of Sports and Social Welfare of Madhesh Province and organized by Life Nepal, said that since child marriage starts from school, school teachers will play an important role in reducing child marriage.

It is a matter of concern that the trend of running away from school and getting married due to the distortions seen in the diet, lifestyle and social media is a matter of concern, as both parties who commit child marriages and those who arrange them are legally guilty.

In the meeting, Janakpurdham sub-metropolitan city chief Manoj Kumar Sah said that it is necessary to conduct a special program to control child marriages from the school level, as child marriages have a negative impact on children's education, employment and health, and said that Janakpurdham sub-metropolitan city is ready to control it.

He also claimed that child marriages occur due to illiteracy, poverty and backwardness, but in recent times child marriages have also increased due to misuse of social media.

Chudamani Phuyal, secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Social Welfare of Madhesh Province, said that child marriage is punishable by law and as it is a social crime, all parties and agencies must work together to control it.

He said that if the local level does not give any kind of recommendation to child marriages, child marriages will be effectively controlled and the Nepal government's campaign to make Nepal a child marriage-free country by 2030 will be successful.

Sunita Singh Budhathoki, Deputy Chief of Mithila Municipality said that she will make every effort to make Mithila Municipality a child marriage-free city.

In the program, Dev Kumar Khatri, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Social Welfare, and the representative of the state police office presented information on the situation of child marriage in Madhesh province and the efforts of the government.

In the program presided over by the president of Life Nepal, Surait Thakur, the people's representatives and employees who participated in various municipalities expressed their commitment to present various programs for the control of child marriage in their respective municipalities.