Nisdi Rural Municipality of Palpa is preparing to be declared child-friendly, however, child marriage persists here. The rural municipality has been conducting various awareness programs for the overall development of children and the community. The rural municipality has set a target to declare Nisdi a child-friendly Rural Municipality by April 2027. The Rural Municipality has conducted community-level awareness programs, including collective efforts against child marriage, speech competitions on the role of individuals in reducing child marriage at the primary and secondary school levels, street drama performances, and commitment-signing campaigns in schools where students pledge not to engage in child marriage.
According to Child Welfare Officer Kushmakhar Pandey, child clubs have been made active, and parent education programs have already been conducted in 25 schools. However, incidents of child marriage continue to occur in Nisdi. A total of 276 couples were reported to have entered into child marriage in the year 2022. This number declined to 52 in 2023 and from mid-July 2024 to date, eight couples have been reported to have married underage. Marriage below the age of 18 is considered child marriage and legal marriage is permitted only after the age of 20 according to the Constitution of Nepal. Therefore, the Rural Municipality, in coordination with the police administration, human rights defenders, local child clubs, and the community, has been conducting various programs like street dramas, song competitions, speech contests, and signature campaigns.
The rural municipality is actively raising awareness among schools, parents, and the community to prevent child marriage. It has activated child clubs and is also working on issues such as health and sanitation. A budget of Rs 20,00,000 has been allocated to implement child-friendly programs. Child Welfare Officer Kushmakhar Pandey stated that child marriage affects education, health, and increases incidents of gender-based violence. Therefore, social and legal efforts are necessary to prevent it.