Literacy and awareness are key to fighting the curse of child marriage. Although cases of child marriage are rarely reported in Odisha, the incidence of such marriages is quite high in states such as Rajasthan where the feudal hangover continues to dictate the choice of parents in these matters. However, the good news is the presence of some fearless women who are waging a relentless war against child marriage.
Usha Chaudhary from Udaipur district in Rajasthan is one such determined campaigner who decided to fight the curse of early marriage after successfully fending off family pressure to get married at the age of 14. The eldest of four siblings, she is now working in the tribal-dominated areas of southern Rajasthan which is infamous for child marriages.
Usha takes pains to explain to the half-literate villagers that decisions such as education, job and marriage are the exclusive domain of a girl and no one should try to thrust their choice on her. Fighting family pressure successfully, Usha opened a school for children of Valmiki Samaj, who are involved in cleaning people’s homes and toilets to make them aware of the ill effects of early marriages.
The dropout rate and child marriages are very high among scheduled tribes and other deprived sections in Rajasthan, so Usha had to make special efforts to curb such evils. Then she joined an organization that worked for the upliftment of widows and tribal women. In 2003, she started a voluntary organization called ‘Vikalp’ and decided to dedicate her life to girls’ education and preventing child marriage.
Unmarried, Usha has formed over 100 groups in about 110 villages in 12 districts of Rajasthan. These groups, consisting of girls and boys aged between eight and 20 years, work together to prevent child marriages by spreading awareness about its ill effects and disadvantages.
Campaigners like Usha are a blessing to society. Every state of the country needs people like her who are willing to take on the conservative society to save young girls from the curse of early marriage. The other objective of such campaigns should be to make girls self-sufficient by facilitating their education. The Narendra Modi government at the Centre has launched a great initiative for the education of the girl child. Aptly named “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao”, it aims at educating girls so that they can stand on their own feet and fight social evils like child marriage.
The NDA government at the Centre has also come up with some other good schemes for the welfare of girls, which focus on their education. Education can act as a catalyst for positive social changes. The more India has such initiatives and campaigners like Usha, the better it is for its future.
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