LS passes Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill

New Delhi, Dec 19 (UNI) The Lok Sabha today passed by voice vote the Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill, 2006, aimed at making provisions of the law more effective and punishment more stringent for restraining solemnisation of child marriages.

The Bill was passed in the House amidst thumping of desks after the members cutting across party affiliations welcomed its passage.

The Bill was earlier passed by the Rajya Sabha.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee complimented the women MPs who participated in the discussion for raising the level of the debate ''to a much higher level''.

Minister of State for Women and Child Development Ms Renuka Chowdhury said steps would be taken to ensure that the states which did not comply with the implementation of the Bill, should have no access to the centrally sponsored development projects.

''It should be mandatory on part of the states to implement the new law, while the government would soon launch a nationwide campaign and advocate against certain social evils, orthodox practices, immoral trafficking of the girl child and female foeticide in many parts of the country,'' the Minister said.

Ms Chowdhury also took serious note of the declining sex ratio but chose to send a peal of laughter among the MPs when she remarked, ''Even in Parliament, women are discriminated. I feel sad that the Women's Reservation Bill could not be introduced in the Winter Session. What we wanted was not just increase in the number of women MPs but also recognition of women folk.'' Stating that about ten million girls were killed during the last 20 years in the country, she wanted the MPs to take note of the status of women in respect of the denial of birth of girl child, no financial security and educational facilities, forcing the girls into domestic chords instead of schools and their becoming victim of domestic violence subsequently.

Earlier, Radhika Selvi(DMK) and Prabodh Panda(CPI) emphasised that mere passing of law would not help. The mindset of society would also have to undergo change, they added.

In an emotional speech, which was commended by none other than the Speaker himself, Ms Ranjeeta Ranjan (LJSP), citing several instances, mentioned the tender age of girls who were being forced into prostitution on the border of Nepal, in a temple in the South and a village in Bundelkhand. ''But to my dismay, despite my taking up the matter with the authorities including the Prime Minister, nothing tangible had been achieved.'' Karuna Shukla (BJP) said any plethora of laws would not help solve the problem, which was essentially a social evil. Quoting the instances form Karnataka, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, she said the problem of ''unwed mothers'' was on the increase in these states.

''The girld child, who works as a maid in the homes of the officials, are first wed by them and later left in the lurch when they give birth to their children.'' Tejaswini Ramesh(Congress), Suresh Prabhu(Shiv Sena) Ravinder Nath(Congress) and Sangita Singh Deo(BJP) made a strong case for stringent punishment including life imprisonment for the guilty.

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