Summer vacations have just begun and 15-year-old Sangeeta Yashwant Chavan is excited to be home. A student of boarding school Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya at Sakri in Dhule district of Maharashtra – meant for dropouts and never-enrolled tribal girls – Sangeeta plans to spend the vacation preparing for her eldest sister Savita’s marriage scheduled later this year.
The mere mention of word lagan (marriage) makes Savita’s face go red as she blushes uncontrollably. It is not common to come across a 19-year-old unmarried girl in tribal villages of Mokhada taluka (administrative block) in Palghar, which, apart from early child marriages, are notorious for malnutrition.
“Unlike Sangeeta, who just completed her 9th grade examinations, I dropped out of school after 7th grade. Our parents were poor and migrated every year. In their absence, I had to look after my younger siblings,” says Savita, who has three younger sisters and two brothers. They belong to the Warli scheduled tribe and live in Shivali village of Mokhada taluka.
In Palghar, a tribal district carved out of Thane district of Maharashtra in 2014, it is common to marry off girls by the age of 15 years. Within a year, they become mothers. And, by the time they are Savita’s age, they already have two to three children.
However, slowly the wind of change is blowing through the tribal villages, which are opposing child marriage and passing strictures against it. Shivali is one such village. In 2014, the village council of Shivali passed a thehrav (resolution) against child marriage. All its 175 families vowed not to marry their daughters before the age of 18 years. Since then, no underage girl has been married in Shivali.
“Early child marriage is a major social ill in adivasi areas such as Mokhada. Linked to it are other problems, such as maternal mortality, stunting, malnourished children, malnutrition deaths, poverty, etc,” Susheela Mahale of Aroehan, a Mokhada-based non-profit that works on health, education, and livelihoods, told VillageSquare.in.
As per news reports, anywhere between 254 to 600 children died due to malnutrition last year in Palghar district of Maharashtra. Mokhada was one of the worst affected talukas.
The state government is working on a programme to reduce maternal mortality in adivasi talukas.
“An early marriage is a threat to both young mother and her child’s life.” Mahale, a resident of Jawhar taluka, was married at the age of 16 years. “I am now working with Aroehan to stop other adivasi girls from getting married at an early age,” says Mahale.
Aroehan, through its health programme, is working towards safe motherhood and reduced malnutrition in Mokhada and Jawhar talukas of Palghar. One of the important elements is to put an end to the practice of early marriage.
The progress is slow, but efforts are bearing fruits. “Earlier, as soon as a girl in our village used to hit puberty, her parents would marry her off. Girls never managed to study beyond class 7 (the zilla parishad school at Shivali is till 7th class),” said Bharti Raghunath Khetadi, a resident of Shivali.
Take the case of Sangeeta. After completing her education in the local zilla parishad (district council) school, she had to drop out for a year, but went back to school.
Sangeeta's elder sisters, Savita (19 years) and Kavita (17 years), studied till class 7. Four more girls from Shivali village study in the residential school at Sakri.
According to Khetadi, passing resolution against early marriage wasn’t an easy decision.
Those who still did not understand were informed that marriage below 18 years age was a crime and could lead to getting jailed. Eventually, the entire village came together and passed the resolution in the gram sabha in 2014. Villagers claim the resolution has stopped early marriage of at least 45 young girls.
“We are glad our daughters are finally dreaming big,” said Jagdish Balchandra Khupane of Shivali village. “Better late than never.”
Meanwhile, Sangeeta has her future plan of action ready. “After completing my graduation, I will join the police force. Marriage can wait,” she says smilingly. Her elder sisters, Savita and Kavita, admire her with pride.
(This article was originally published in VillageSquare.in)
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