Bhopal, May 27 (IANS) In rural Madhya Pradesh, the official who records land disputes, crop losses, and inheritance claims has now been handed another responsibility, stopping child marriages before the wedding drums begin.
For the first time, every Patwari in the state has been legally empowered to intervene directly if information about an underage marriage surfaces in the villages under his jurisdiction.
In urban areas, the same authority has been extended to Zonal Officers, Revenue Officers, Assistant Revenue Officers, and Health Officers of Municipal Corporations.
The move marks one of the most sweeping grassroots enforcement reforms undertaken by the Madhya Pradesh government under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
A senior officer in the Women and Child Development (WCD) department told IANS that the decision is aimed at transforming the state’s anti-child marriage system from a slow, complaint-driven mechanism into a rapid local response network capable of acting before ceremonies take place.
“Until now, preventive action was largely limited to police, magistrates, and Women and Child Development staff. The new system creates a multi-layered network that runs from the district headquarters down to the revenue village,” the official told IANS.
Under the new structure, District Collectors, Additional Collectors, and CEOs of District Panchayats will supervise implementation at the district level, while Sub-Divisional Officers (Revenue) will monitor action in sub-divisions.
However, the state’s real gamble lies at the village level.
A Patwari is often the first government functionary to know when a family is preparing for a wedding.
Officials believe that local familiarity could become the strongest weapon against hidden or hurried child marriages, especially in remote pockets where social pressure often silences complaints.
The urgency behind the overhaul follows recent incidents that exposed glaring enforcement gaps, where 13 people have been booked after a 13-year-old girl was allegedly married off despite prior warnings.
Investigators claimed the marriage was linked to a barter-style arrangement between two families, a practice that officials admit is difficult to detect without local intelligence.
“Now, if information regarding a child marriage is received from any source, the local Patwari or Sector Supervisor will be legally empowered to intervene directly,” the WCD official said.
The government also plans to rely heavily on inputs from Anganwadi workers, school teachers, and local informers to identify vulnerable families before wedding preparations turn into criminal cases.
–IANS
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