The Assam government in a Cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorce Registration Act and Rules 1935, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has informed.
Taking to social media platform X, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote, “We have taken a significant step to ensure justice for our daughters and sisters by putting additional safeguards against child marriage.
In the meeting of the Assam Cabinet today we have decided to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorce Registration Act and Rules 1935 vide the Assam Repealing Bill 2024.”
The government informed that to bring parity in the registration of marriage and divorce, the state Cabinet has accorded approval to The Assam Repealing Bill, 2024 which aims to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935 and Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Rules, 1935.
The Bill will be placed before the next Monsoon session of Assam Legislative Assembly for consideration.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government would continue its crackdown on child marriages and a special drive against the social evil would be conducted every six months. Sarma’s comments come after an NGO report maintained that the state government’s action against child marriage has led to a decline in the number of such cases.
He said the director general of police (DGP) has been instructed to conduct a preliminary survey for the next round of crackdown on child marriages towards the year-end.
“Our campaign and tough action against child marriage will continue. Every six months a special drive will be conducted, and the DGP has been instructed to conduct a preliminary survey for the next crackdown on child marriages in November-December this year,” the CM said in a video message.
As per data from the National Crime Record Bureau and also from a survey covering 1,132 villages in 20 districts of the state, 30 per cent of these areas have reported “complete eradication” of child marriage, while 40 per cent have seen a “significant decline” in the once-rampant practice of the social evil, the report said. The villages surveyed have a total population of 21 lakh, with a child population of eight lakh.