442 School-Going Kids Pregnant in Manyam, ASR District in 2 Years

Visakhapatnam: A staggering 442 school going girls got married and became pregnant during the last two academic years in Parvathipuram Manyam and ASR districts.

ICDS records show 312 teenage pregnancies were reported from ASR district. Of them, the Paderu revenue division alone reported 228 pregnancies, Chintoor division 47 and Rampachodavadam 37. The GK Veedhi mandal topped the chart with 37 pregnancies.

Parvathipuram Manyam district hospitals said annually 130 minor pregnant girls were availing treatment and subsequent delivery procedures. Currently, 171 lactating mothers in Paderu are benefitting from various schemes launched by the government.

“All of them need not be schoolgoing. Some could be illiterate and a few may be school dropouts. We cannot say all of them are married,’’ said ICDS project director J Suryalakshmi of Anakapalli district.

Talking to Deccan Chronicle, Suryalakshmi said they have launched a series of awareness camps at weekly markets, festivals, schools and colleges in the last two years and successfully prevented 48 child marriages.

“Village elders claimed that child marriages were part of their culture and tradition. The more interior the areas, the more the minor marriages,” the PD said.

She said the Kishori Vikasam summer special programme was launched last summer to affirm a communitywide commitment to protect, empower, educate adolescent girls and to end child marriages.

The programme also engages parents of adolescent girls in all villages across the state to sensitize them on adolescent health, education and protection and reinforce the collective commitment to end child marriages.

“It is due to a lack of awareness, specifically among the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal groups, that child marriages are taking place. It is not true that parents are forcing the children to get married,’’ felt G Thanujarani, Lok Sabha member from Araku.

Former deputy chief minister Peedika Rajanna Dora said the departments of tribal welfare, health and woman and child departments should work in coordination to create awareness among people in the remote tribal villages.

Activist Rama Rao Dora said it was the poor quality of education that was hampering the reach of awareness programmes to the next level. He also said the dropout after Intermediate was high among the youth, forcing them to return to homes and get married.

Statistics from Parvathipuram district reflect the continuing prevalence of child marriages and teenage pregnancies.

While approximately 16 to 18 child marriages are prevented each year, 130-plus minors become pregnant annually. The district hospital's records show an average of six deliveries by underage girls every month.

Dr Nagasivajyothi, superintendent of the Manyam district hospital, said the facility recorded 83 underage deliveries last year. “We are trying to enroll these teenage married girls back into schools and colleges by offering them incentives,’’ said ASR district collector Dinesh Kumar.