Worrying surge in child bearing minor girls: TN Govt.must act quickly

Social activist Veronica Mary has released the information obtained through the Right to Information Act which reveals that 1448 girls under the age of 18 have been born in Nellai district in the 34 months from January 2021 to October 2023.
Particularly in Melapalayam Urban Health Centre alone, a maximum of 88 girls have given birth. 44 girls at Manur Primary Health Center and 43 girls at VanniKonenthal Primary Health Centre delivered babies. This is worrying news and Nellai district collector also expressed shock about this.The collector attributes two different reasons for this. Firstly, school dropout is the biggest reason. Next, marriage before the age of 18 is also a reason for young children, he says.
The issue of rampant childbearing girls in Nellai district will not be absent in other districts as well. The Tamil Nadu government has the responsibility to curb this. It is the request of the social activists that the Tamil Nadu government should take all necessary measures. Reports of an increase in child births due to the failure of obstetricians to inform the police cannot be ignored.The practice of marrying off minor girls at an early age is still happens in Tamil Nadu.
Due to this, not only their social life but also their basic physical health deteriorates. Not only that, because one child gives birth to another child, the children born are also born malnourished.As a result, the unborn child is vulnerable to harm. Despite strong laws against child marriage, child marriages continue.
Although the Tamil Nadu government is taking serious measures, it has not been able to completely prevent child marriage and the birth of girls before the age of 18.In such an environment, in Tamil Nadu itself, in Nellai district, a report has come out that more children have been born to female minors below the age of 18 years, which has causing great shock.
This statistic shows that creating awareness about the evils of child marriage is becoming very necessary and urgent. Can child marriages and child births be prevented by introducing sex education, introducing subjects on child marriage and child birth in school education? The government should investigate!