Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh: Gautam Kumar, a student of Class 10, eagerly waits for his school to get over so he can join his friends - not to play games, but asking others his age not to marry.

The 16-year-old is among around 200 members of a young brigade, striving to prevent child marriages in villages of Siddharthnagar district, some 350 km from Lucknow.

"Our main aim is to convince the locals not to marry off their sons and daughters before they turn 21 and 18 respectively," Gautam, a native of Dohni village, told the sources.

"It really feels great to work for a social cause. Students of my age must not forget that they are victims of the social evil that cannot be weeded out without their cooperation and support," he added.

The credit for empowering Kumar and other teenagers to take up the social cause goes to the NGO Shohratgarh Environmental Society (SES).

"Students and youths in the age group of 15-20 years are contributing their bit to sensitizing villagers about the ill effects of child marriages," SES secretary B.S. Srivastava told the sources.

For over two years, SES has been undertaking training and counseling programmes for teenagers to make them aware of problems related to child marriages and early pregnancies.

"The 200 members, both boys and girls, serve as peer educators, primarily targeting people in the age group of 15-20 years. With young peer educators, the target audience tends to take them seriously. This is probably because peer educators are also of their age group," he added.

At present, with the help of peer educators, SES covers around 60 villages in Siddharthnagar.

"We visit door to door, organize public meetings, distribute manuals and engage in other activities also to make students of our age group aware of the social evil. Those who come into contact with us thereafter sensitize others, including their parents, relatives or neighbors," said Sakal Gupta, 18, a Class 12 student and native of Baadgun village.

"Apart from physical problems, we also tell the target group about the additional responsibilities that automatically come with early marriage. We tell them that without a job it would not be possible for them to take care of their family," he added.

Peer educators believe if students take out some time in undertaking a campaign against child marriages, the social evil can be fought independently by them.

"Social activists and government agencies are doing their work, but if students also join in the fight, they could bring more positive changes in society," said Gupta. IANS