Rajbiraj, December 17 Ward No 5 of Rajbiraj Municipality in Saptari was today declared a child marriage free zone. Ward Chair Samir Jha said the announcement was made after as many as 560 households in the ward met all the criteria qualifying the ward as a child marriage free zone. At a programme organised on the premises of Bindeswori Higher Secondary Public School, Province 2 Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives Sailendra Prasad Sah made the declaration by reading out a banner. Save the Children, Saptari and Save the Children had been conducting an awareness programme against child marriage for a long time in the ward. Addressing the programme, Minister Sah said that the efforts made by ward No 5 officials to make the ward a child marriage free area were admirable. “Other wards and local levels should follow this example and learn from the ward,” Sah added.