GUWAHATI: The recent crackdowns on underage marriages in Assam have ensured decline in maternal and child deaths in the state.
This was claimed by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday (December 12).
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that maternal mortalities decreased by over 33% and child deaths reduced by nearly 15% since the launch of crackdowns on child marriage in the state.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that over 5000 people have been arrested thus far in Assam by the state’s police since the launch of the crackdown on child marriage.
He said that the Assam government aims to eradicate the social menace of child marriages by the year 2026.
“Child marriage is a social evil, which also manifests undesirable health outcomes such as high infant and maternal mortality rates,” Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
He said: “Our crackdown has yielded encouraging results in women & child health sphere.”
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“By 2026, Assam will end this abhorrent practice (child marriage),” the Assam chief minister added.
The Assam government has also designated gram panchayat secretaries as child marriage prevention (prohibition) officers, CM Sarma said.
As a result, there has been a 33.4% decline in the number of maternal deaths from 766 in 2021-22 to 510 in 2022-23, said Sarma.
He also added that there has also been a 14.7% fall in the number of child deaths from 7872 in 2021-22 to 6718 in 2022-23.
The crackdown against child marriage and teenage pregnancy in Assam will continue till the government achieves its goal of eradicating these by 2026, CM Sarma further said.