CHILD MARRIAGE AND TEENAGE PREGNANCY: SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND HEALTH CHALLENGES IN RURAL INDIA

Abstract

This paper examines the ongoing problem of child marriage and teenage pregnancy in rural India, their causes, effects, and ways of resolving them. The aim is to examine how effective the current legal frameworks, NGOs' interventions, and community-based efforts have been in combating these issues, especially in states such as Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. The results also show that socio-economic issues like poverty, patriarchal attitudes, and poor education still contribute to child marriages and their related problems, like teenage pregnancy and impaired health status of adolescents. Effective initiatives such as Kanyashree Prakalpa and Laadli Scheme show that financial rewards and education-based interventions will help reduce the number of early marriages. Moreover, the local-level initiatives in Rajasthan emphasize the need to involve the local leaders to change the societal attitude. The research finds that the multi-sectoral strategy of the legal enforcement, education, healthcare system, and community involvement is essential to the promotion of sustainable change and enabling the rights of young girls in rural India.