LAHORE: Alliance against Child Marriages (AACM) representatives say despite a Punjab government’s package announced on March 8, there has been no legislation to check child marriages in the province.

They stated this on Tuesday at a meeting where parliamentarians, religious leaders, doctors, lawyers and reporters participated.

The meeting was organised by Rahnuma FPAP and Plan International from the platform of the AACM.

The AACM has made a draft bill but it has still not been passed by the assembly though Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had announced in March the Child Marriage Restraint Act would be amended.

Activists say the original Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 is outdated and vague with soft punishment for families involved in underage marriage and it also absolves nikah-khwans (registrars) of all blames.

Some members of the Punjab Assembly Women’s Caucus said they were trying to move the bill through the assembly but it was not an easy process.

They assured that along with bills on domestic violence and home-based workers, this too was on their priority list.

Sindh Assembly’s recent passing of the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 2013 was held as a reference and benchmark.

Population Welfare Minister Begum Zakia Shahnawaz praised civil society for highlighting the issue at policy level, saying the Punjab government was interested in controlling child marriage in the province. A committee by the Social Welfare Department had been constituted to work on the Child Marriage Bill and the bill was at its final stages.

She also linked over population with early marriages, saying it was the time to progress thinking not just of one person’s benefit but for the benefit of the nation. Overpopulation was the effect of early marriages and resulted in issues related to health, education and economy.

Plan International representative Safdar said they were working in Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh and Vehari on this issue.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2014