Hyderabad, Apr 17 (PTI) About five per cent or 2.16 lakh girls below 18 years of age have been found to have married in Telangana, according to the caste survey conducted by the Congress government in 2024-25.

The survey report, which was made public recently, said in Telangana, the average female-to-male ratio stands at 0.98. Interestingly, Gonds, Koyas (both STs), Malas and Madigas (both SCs) report a ratio greater than 1, while general castes such as Iyengars/Iyers, Jains, Rajus and general category Muslims have a ratio much less than the state average of 0.98.

"With regard to girl child marriages in Telangana, 5 per cent of girls or in other words, 2.16 lakh girls below the age of 18, were found to have married. The highest share of married girls below 18 was among Iyengars/Iyers (21.2 per cent) - which is surprisingly five times the state average, and Jains have (11 per cent) twice the state average,” it said.

Nearly two-thirds of all women in Telangana have not progressed past secondary education, the Telangana Socio, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) Survey-2024 said. At the extreme end of backwardness, ST Kolam women report that 83 per cent of them are not progressing past secondary education, signalling extremely poor educational access and outcomes among tribal girls.

On the other hand, only 36.2 per cent of Brahmin women are not crossing secondary education, the lowest in terms of backwardness. The women of Raju, Jains, Komati, and Kammas closely follow them in terms of educational attainment. Women of all these communities, with their better educational achievement, reflect their historically privileged socio-economic position.

In terms of the proportion of women not crossing secondary education, SC, ST groups are above the state average, reflecting continued educational deprivation, while a few exceptions, like SC Mala women, perform better than the state average, indicating intra-group diversity, suggesting targeted educational interventions are necessary for specific sub-castes to bridge this educational gap, the report added. PTI GDK ADB