Bihar launches ‘social revolution’ project
Nitish government targets child marriage, dowry; critics say it’s a ploy to get votes
The state government in Bihar, headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar, yesterday launched a vigorous campaign against dowry and child marriages, apparently bolstered by the positive response of the total prohibition that it enforced last year.
On this occasion, hundreds of people also took an oath not to take dowry and promised to work on eradicating the social evils that have been claiming scores of lives every year.
“The dream of development will always remain unfulfilled until these two social evils are eradicated from the society,” Kumar said, kicking off the campaign in Patna on the 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation.
According to him, the eradication of these two social evils would result in a sharp fall in incidents of violence against women. “This will ultimately usher in social revolution,” he predicted.
According to an official report, the prevalence of child marriage in Bihar is 40 per cent, while dowry has been one of the main reasons behind domestic violence in the state. Bihar records the second highest number of dowry deaths and torture incidents in the country.
Big numbers
An official report said around 25,000 women were either killed or committed suicide due to dowry-related 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). This information was provided to the Lok Sabha by federal minister Maneka Gandhi.
Besides this, around 30,000 cases of dowry were registered during the same period under the Dowry Prohibition Act.
The chief minister also exhorted the masses the join the government’s campaign and announced the intention to form a human chain against these evils on January 21. Furthermore, he appealed to all political parties to support the social campaign.
However, experts say the campaign is more an attempt to consolidate Janata Dal (United)’s woman vote-bank and strengthen its position ahead of the next 2019 Lok Sabha polls.