Bihar government announces campaign against dowry

Chief Minister asks officials to ready action plan and work towards banning child marriages

The state government in Bihar headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar has decided to launch a massive campaign against the dowry system in society on the lines of the government’s intensive campaign against liquor. Bihar banned alcohol and imposed total prohibition last year.

The chief minister took this decision at a meeting of the social welfare department held on Friday evening.

Describing the dowry system as one of the major social evils, Kumar asked the authorities to prepare an action plan in this regard. He also directed the authorities to work towards banning child marriages.

Multi-department initiative

“Dowry is a major social issue today as even girls are now seeking a ban. Now, time has come to launch an aggressive campaign against it too,” Kumar told the officials at the meeting. He asked the social welfare department to also involve the health, education and rural development department in its campaign against dowry.

The move came after a group of women met the chief minister during his weekly public interaction programme and suggested a crackdown on dowry.

Bihar ranks second among states reporting the highest number of dowry deaths over the past three years.

As per an official report, around 25,000 women were either killed or committed suicide due to dowry harassment by their in-laws between 2012 and 2014 with Uttar Pradesh (7,048 deaths) reporting the highest number of deaths, closely followed by Bihar (3,830 deaths). The information was made available to the Lok Sabha by federal minister Maneka Gandhi.