Child marriage a reality in Rajasthan

Udaipur, February 26 From atop a flight of stairs, strains of voices reciting numbers from one to 100 are heard. A small, semi-clad girl child stands clutching the iron grills of the gate, looking intently at the ongoing classroom. This is a primary school in Pasun village, nestled amidst the Aravalli ranges in Rajasthan. The government’s ambitious ‘education for all’ programme has ensured that a village as far flung as this has a primary school. What the programme has not delivered is infrastructure and quality education. No furniture in dimly lit classrooms, no toilets and little counselling, but the heartening news is the blackboard that shows the number of girls enrolled in the school. Infrastructure or the lack of it is not what worries the people here, electricity and water being luxuries; a primary school where their children learn the three Rs is enough. More...

Smriti Kak Ramachandran, Tribune News Service.