The Odisha Government has failed to effectively implement late marriage incentives aimed at checking early marriages in Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) despite earmarking a dedicated fund for the purpose, says Comptroller Auditor General of India, whose report on performance audit of micro project agencies (MPAs) was tabled in Odisha Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (March 31, 2026).
A scheme called ‘Late marriage incentive to PVTG households’ programme was introduced under Odisha PVTG Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement Programme (OPELIP) in December 2020. The objective was to create awareness regarding prevention of early marriage.
According to the CAG report, under the scheme, financial assistance ranging between ₹2,000 and ₹20,000 was to be paid to each girl marrying after 18 years of age, in the shape of an account payee cheque, in a community meeting in the presence of villagers to encourage other girls and their families to adopt a similar practice. Identified community resource persons were assigned to identify girls of PVTG families marrying after 18 years and inform the Village Development Committees (VDCs).
“Audit noticed that most of the MPAs had no details or information regarding child marriages taking place in the villages under their control despite the fact that the districts with a higher concentration of tribal communities had witnessed a larger number of child marriages. Malkangiri reported the highest cases with 39.30%, followed by Nabarangpur (37.90%), Mayurbhanj (35%), Koraput (34.70%) and Rayagada (34.40%), as per NFHS-4 (2015-16),” the report says.
“Only five out of 17 MPAs could provide details of child marriages (133 cases) that had taken place during 2019-24,” the audit report says.
“For this programme, a provision of ₹153.26 lakh was made during 2019-24, in 17 MPAs to cover 1,161 PVTG girls. Against this, the MPAs incurred an expenditure of ₹95.24 lakh only towards payment of late marriage incentive to 677 (58%) beneficiaries,” the report points out, indicating “sub-optimal performance” of the MPAs in promoting late marriage through payment of incentive for preventing child marriage.
“Beneficiaries assisted under the Late Marriage Incentive scheme in 13 MPAs belonged to 168 (43%) out of a total of 389 villages under the jurisdiction of these MPAs. Thus, the scheme for late marriage incentive to prevent early marriage among the PVTGs, was not implemented in 214 villages,” it reveals.
Out of 75 PVTGs identified in the country, 13 PVTGs , belong to Odisha, having population of 2,94,712 spread over 14 districts of the State. For implementing different welfare programmes for upliftment of PVTGs, the State Government had established 20 MPAs during the period from 1976-77 to 2020-21 across 14 districts of the State. An MPA covered a particular zone of concentration of PVTGs and was responsible for implementing all such programmes in that zone.
The total PVTG population in the State, thus stood at 2.94 lakh in 1,679 villages/ hamlets. Out of these 2.94 lakh population, OPELIP was implemented for 1.34 lakh people only and developmental programmes had not been implemented for the remaining 1.60 lakh people living in newly identified 1,138 villages. Thus, 1.60 lakh (54%) PVTG population was left out from availing the benefits of PVTG specific programmes for years together, as of March 2024.
Published – April 01, 2026 04:00 am IST
