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In a disturbing report from Kerala, it has emerged that there were as many as 20,995 teenagers who gave birth in the state in 2019 and the data also indicated the prevalence of child marriages as per a report by the Economics and Statistics Department, reports New Indian Express.
The data indicates that the most literate state in India is yet to get rid of the evil practice of child marriage despite its high ranking in social development indicators.
When the report is further dissected, it is revealed that young mothers aged between 15 and 19, 316 of them delivered their second baby, 59 their third, and 16 their fourth, says the Vital Statistics Report 2019.
The report also states that a majority of the women, 15,248, were from urban areas while only 5,747 hailed from rural areas and except 57 teenage girls, the rest of the underage mothers had only elementary education.
As many as 38 of them had primary-level education, and 1,463 had education between the primary level and 10th standard, 57 persons were illiterate and the education status of 3,298 mothers was unavailable.
Public health expert Dr K V Ramankutty said the data warrants a more comprehensive study to have a proper assessment and said, “Obviously, this is bad for the state. Early pregnancy will affect the health of the mother and baby. Also, the mother’s chances for higher education or employment would be low in such cases. A study is required for formulating a policy to address this,”.
The number of live births registered in Kerala in 2019 is 4.80 lakh as against 4.88 lakh during 2018. However, of the total 4,80,113 newborns, 2,44,953 were male and 2,35,129 female which is a significant drop in the sex ratio, and female infanticide or selective abortion could not be ruled out.
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