Child Marriage in India: A Study of Situation, Causes & Enforcement of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act Supported By Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi.

The practice of early marriage of children is not confined to India but it is spread in over 40 countries of the globe, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and South-East Asia, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The practice of child marriage in India may be dates back to the ancient period however, during the Muslim rule in India, the practice of child marriage was found more prevalent in northern states. It is the advent of different forms of culture which came in from the northern borders which may have influenced by various communities to resort to early marriages. The practice of child marriage in northern India is closely associated with pious occasions such as Akha Teej, Ganesh Chaturthi etc. The main reason of early marriage is associated with cultural traditions and customs, economic hardship, poverty, educational backwardness and social pressure from within the community to marry daughters before attaining puberty.

Health Facility Assessment in Uttar Pradesh, Sponsored By USAID-HUP, New Delhi.

In order to provide better services so as to develop specific plans for the cities, Government of Uttar Pradesh has planned to initiate an Assessment of Health Facilities present in the large and medium cities of Uttar Pradesh and HUP as a technical nodal agency for urban health supporting the state govt. has been asked to undertake the health facility assessment. Accordingly, in consultation with the Directorate of Family Welfare, Government of Uttar Pradesh a list of 27 cities and the health facilities (in the identified cities) have been finalized.Under the overall guidance of Director General Family Welfare, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, It is expected that the proposed study will provide inputs so as to help the state and the city / district administration to generate productive information in order to improve delivery and quality of urban health services at the district.The study aims to cover a mix of large & medium cities of the State. As finalized in consultation with the department, a total of 27 cities spread over the state have been covered.

An Evaluation Study of Coaching and Allied Scheme for Scheduled Caste in India, Sponsored By Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment Government of India, New Delhi

Weaker sections including Scheduled castes, Scheduled tribes and OBCs In India present a significant degree of cultural and ethnic diversity. They differ in their socio economic levels of development as well as in their behavioral patterns. Moreover their situation in India poses peculiar problems of development, not encountered in other areas the peculiarities can be broadly sum the as geographical, demographic, socio culture and exploitative. The representation of SC’s, ST’s and OBCs in government services, particularly in premier services has been reported to be low despite positive discrimination and reservation provision. This is because of the fact that their share in enrollment in higher education sector is low and they are poor in fundamental knowledge and entrepreneurship .Therefore central government as well a state government have implemented educational empowerment programmes and schemes for SC’s, ST’s , OBCs, and Minorities .