Bengaluru, Aug 13
Karnataka Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar on Wednesday said that 'Akka Force' will be deployed across the state to address issues concerning women, particularly to prevent rape, child pregnancies, and child marriages.
Akka translates to elder sister in the Kannada language.
Hebbalkar announced this in the Legislative Assembly while responding to a question from JD(S) floor leader, MLA C.B. Suresh Babu, regarding the rising number of child pregnancies, child marriages, and rapes in the state.
"The 'Akka Force' is functioning well in Bidar district and will now be introduced across the state. It will be launched on an experimental basis from August 15 in Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Belagavi districts through the department, and later extended statewide," Hebbalkar said.
She added, "The 'Akka Force' will comprise women police personnel and senior NCC cadets. They will be provided with vehicles and will visit colleges and other public spaces to minimise incidents such as child marriages and rapes. This is a matter of serious concern for us."
Hebbalkar further said, "After assuming office, I formed a committee with members from ten different departments to prevent child marriages. The committee includes representatives from RDPR, Health, Education, Home, Social Welfare, Revenue, SC/ST Welfare, and other departments. They are responsible for preventing child marriages from the gram panchayat level to the district headquarters."
She said, "We have created the '1098' helpline, which is operational 24 hours."
Earlier, JD(S) MLA and floor leader C.B. Suresh Babu said, according to statistics for 2023-24, at least 405 girls below 18 years were victims of child marriage. In 2023-24, 709 child marriages took place in the state. In 2024-25, 685 girls have become victims. In the past 10 months, 26,463 child pregnancies have been reported in the state. This is a serious concern."
Responding to this, Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar said, "I appreciate the concern. Since our government came to power, many amendments have been made to prevent child pregnancies and child marriages. We tabled the bill concerning the prevention of child marriages in the Assembly on Tuesday."
"The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) operates in all districts and maintains separate statistics. If 26,463 child pregnancies were reported in the state in 10 months, it is indeed a serious concern. Hailing from Belagavi, I can say that the statistics regarding Belagavi district are inaccurate," she said.
She added that the state government is actively preventing love marriages among minors and child marriages, which still occur in some communities, and social media regulation is also being enforced.
— IANS
Reader Comments
The numbers are shocking! 26,463 child pregnancies in 10 months? This is a national shame. While Akka Force is good, we need stronger laws and faster courts to punish offenders. Education in rural areas must improve too.
Good initiative but will it work? We've seen many such announcements before. The real test will be implementation - will they have enough staff? Will politicians interfere when cases involve powerful people?
As a mother of two daughters, this gives me some hope. But please don't limit this to cities - villages need this protection the most. The child marriage numbers from Belagavi are especially worrying.
Why only women police and NCC cadets? Male officers should also be part of this force. Gender equality works both ways. The focus should be on capability, not gender.
The 1098 helpline is a good start but many rural women don't even know about such services. Government should run awareness campaigns in regional languages through local radio and street plays.
Instead of just preventing child marriages, we need to address root causes - poverty, lack of education, and regressive social norms. The force should work with NGOs to empower girls through skill development.