Odisha’s Late Marriage Incentives fails to reach beneficiaries in PVTGs, says CAG

The Comptroller General of India, whose report on performance audit of micro project agencies (MPAs) was tabled in the Odisha Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, says the Odisha Government has failed to effectively implement late marriage incentives aimed at checking early marriages, especially in Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).

A program called ‘Late marriage promotion for PVTG households’ program was introduced in December 2020 under the Odisha PVTG Empowerment and Livelihoods Improvement Program (OPELIP). The aim was to raise awareness about preventing early marriage.

Under the scheme, financial assistance ranging from £2,000 to £20,000 will be paid in the form of a payee’s check to each girl married after the age of 18, at a community meeting where villagers were present to encourage other girls and their families to adopt a similar practice, the CAG report said. Designated community resource persons were assigned to identify daughters of PVTG families who married after the age of 18 and inform the Village Development Committees (VDCs).

“The audit found that despite witnessing a higher number of child marriages in areas with higher concentration of tribal communities, most MPAs had no details or information about child marriages taking place in villages under their control. Malkangiri reported the highest cases at 39.30%, followed by Nabarangpur (37.90%), Mayurbhanj (35%), Koraput (34.70%) and Rayagada (34.40%). NFHS-4 (2015-16) as per,” the report says.

“Only five out of 17 MPAs were able to provide details of child marriages (133 cases) that occurred during 2019-24,” the audit report says.

“For this scheme, a provision of ₹ 153.26 lakh was made to cover 1,161 PVTG girls in 17 MPAs during 2019-24. In comparison, MPAs spent ₹ 95.24 lakh on late marriage incentive payment to only 677 (58%) beneficiaries,” the report said. The report notes that MPAs are performing “sub-optimally” in promoting late marriage through payment of incentives to prevent child marriage.

“The beneficiaries receiving assistance under the Late Marriage Promotion scheme in 13 MPAs belonged to 168 (43%) of the total 389 villages under the jurisdiction of these MPAs. Hence, the late marriage promotion scheme for prevention of early marriage among PVTGs was not implemented in 214 villages,” it reveals.

Of the 75 PVTGs identified in the country, 13 PVTGs belong to Odisha, which has a population of 2,94,712 spread across 14 districts of the state. For implementation of different welfare programs for increasing PVTGs, the State Government has created 20 MPAs in 14 districts of the state from 1976-77 to 2020-21. An MPA covered a specific region where PVTGs were concentrated and was responsible for the implementation of all such programs in that region.

Thus, the total PVTG population in the state stood at 2.94 lakh in 1,679 villages/hamlets. Out of this 2.94 lakh population, OPELIP was implemented for only 1.34 lakh people and development programs were not implemented for the remaining 1.60 lakh people living in the newly identified 1,138 villages. Thus, 1.60 lakh (54%) PVTG population as of March 2024 have not been able to enjoy the benefits of PVTG-specific schemes for years together.