Patharia, a village-situated in the Bundhelkund region is stark contrast to other villages. Inhabited by the Bedia tribe, a part of the vimukta jati where adult members in the family never worked and depended solely on the earnings of the young girl involved in prostitution.

No one, finds Shobha Saxena in Rajasthan. Despite laws prohibiting such marriages, thousands of children are forced into it. The officials are least interested to punish the guilty and the people are too callous and orthodox to change. 

In choosing to look at the age of marriage, the study was conducted in the impoverished communities of Doroli of Alwar district and the Kathaputali colony, a slum area of Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan. Both areas are

At an age when children bubble with the sheer joy of being alive, there are millions of small girls struggling to survive the burdens of poverty, overwork and ill-health in India.

The stark white room is echoing with dreams. "I want to become a doctor... I am engineer... I want to become a nun... (this evokes a riot of laughter) I want to become a dress designer... My dream is to become a social worker ....

India is among the first group of countries along with others in Africa to identify the "girl child" as the focus of attention for improving the social and economic status of women.