Bhubaneswar, Jan 4 (IANS): Odisha's Ganjam has declared itself a child marriage free district.

District collector Vijay Amruta Kulange has issued an order to this effect yesterday.

"After duly verified by the respective block development officers (BDOs), Tahasildars, executive officers of NACs and child marriage prohibition officers which have been recommended by the GP, ward, village level task force committees, the administration Ganjam hereby declared Ganjam district as child marriage free district," read the order.

The district has 3,309 number of child marriage free villages, 280 child marriage free wards under Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and 503 child marriage free Gram Panchayats, said the collector. He said that his team worked hard to make the Nirbhaya Kadhi Programme successful.

To control child marriages, the Ganjam administration with the help of UNICEF and ActionAid India had launched the Nirbhaya Kadhi programme in 2019. Under the programme, Panchayat and ward-level task forces were formed to create awareness among people about the ills of child marriage.