Nabarangpur, 16th Aug 2025: In Nabarangpur district, many minor girls are becoming pregnant at an early age due to child marriage, suffering from anemia, and facing life-threatening complications during childbirth. Despite efforts by many government and non-government organizations to prevent child marriage, the problem is increasing. Similarly, instead of taking sick children to hospitals, some families still rely on traditional healers and superstitious practices. District Collector Dr. Maheshwar Swain has urged that such harmful social practices must be stopped.
Chairing a review meeting on the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, Dr. Swain expressed concern after learning about the child marriage situation in the district. He said that in the name of tradition, underage girls are being married off, and as a result, healthy children are not being born. Due to a lack of awareness about safe motherhood schemes, maternal and infant mortality rates in the district remain at the national average.
Although the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme has been in place for several years, its implementation in Nabarangpur has not been effective. The Collector called for its proper execution, noting that in 2019–20, out of 33,569 registered pregnant women, 5,494 were minors. In 2020–21, out of 33,529 registrations, 4,498 were minors; in 2021–22, the number was 4,315; and in 2022–23, 3,514 minors were registered as pregnant. In the current financial year, until July, out of 25,500 pregnant women registered, 2,540 were minors.
On the other hand, 189 child marriages have been prevented in the district in the last five months. Additionally, 1,058 villages across 10 blocks have been declared child marriage-free. Earlier, the responsibility for preventing child marriage was given to CDPOs in each block, but now the government has relieved them of this duty and assigned it to Panchayat Extension Officers under the Panchayati Raj Department.