Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today hailed the Supreme Court order criminalising sex with minor wife aged between 15 and 18 years.
"The order will be a great help in our campaign against child marriage," he said at a programme held here by the state education department as a part of the centenary celebration of 'Champaran Satyagraha' by Mahatma Gandhi.
Kumar had launched a state-wide campaign on October two to abolish child marriage and dowry, drawing strength from the campaign he had launched last year to make the state alcohol-free.
He expressed firm commitment of the state government to follow the ideals of the Father of the Nation and said imposition of the liquor ban and the intensive campaign now against child marriage and dowry in Bihar are in line with it.
At the programme today he narrated stories related to Mahatama Gandhi to spread his message to the younger generation, which was webcast to all the district headquarters across the state for mass viewing by students and teachers.
Kumar said the day was auspicious for the launch of the programme as it was also the birth anniversary of socialist leader Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan.
He quoted from Gandhiji's 'My Experiments with Truth' and said that instead of installing his statues and see him as a coronation of god it would be better to imbibe his message.
The CM said he was of the firm belief that even if 10-15 per cent of the people of the present generation get influenced by Gandhiji's ideals it would transform not only Bihar but the entire country.
The stories on Gandhiji to be complied by the education department would be read out in schools across the state every week to make students aware of his ideals, officials said.
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