New Delhi, July 18: Eighty-four years after the first law to prevent child marriages came into effect, more than half the women in eight states get married before they turn 18, reported The Indian Express.

Bihar's child marriage rate of 64 per cent, or nearly two underage brides among every three women, is the worst, data available with the women and child development ministry show. It is followed by Jharkhand with 60 per cent, or three among five. The other states with a child marriage rate above 50 per cent are Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, MP, UP, Chhattisgarh.

The ministry of women and child development is now drawing up an action plan to crack down on child marriages. A national consultation will be held with states and the ministries of health, human resource development, rural development, home later this week to identify areas where interventions are needed and to build capacity in adolescents apart from the ongoing awareness drives. Updated data will also be collected under the plan.

The states with a high child marriage ratio are also the ones that have the highest rural-urban gap in such marriages.

Goa has the lowest rate, 11 per cent, followed by Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Jammu and Kashmir.

"We are looking at greater community participation in the programmes, so they will need to be framed accordingly," said an official in the WCD ministry. "Changing social attitudes is of paramount importance. That is the reason despite making child marriage a non-bailable offence, we have not been able to strike at the root of this practice. We have to still send missives to states ahead of dates such as Akshay Tritiya to alert them against mass child marriages."