Chhatrapur: An awareness programme that makes Aadhaar card mandatory for marriages was launched in Chhatrapur town of Ganjam district Tuesday. The initiative is aimed at preventing child marriages.
According to the campaign, couples planning to get married will have to produce Aadhaar card to prove that they are above the minimum age limit — which is 18 for girls and 21 for boys.
“There have been occasions when minors were married off by their parents since they were unaware of existing rules. At times, they wanted to bypass the law. Besides, this practice remains widespread in rural area owing to illiteracy, ignorance, superstition, poverty. However, very few care about the consequences of child marriages on the lives of minors,” said Ganjam collector on the occasion.
“A committee comprising of auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM), anganwadi worker (AWW), teachers and staffs of local primary school would conduct verification of the Aadhaar card of the couple,” he added. .
The programme was flagged off by Ganjam collector in the presence of district society welfare officer Manorama Reddy among others.
