Why in the News?
The Union government marked the first anniversary of its Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Abhiyan with a 100-day awareness campaign for a country free of child marriage.
More on the News
- The Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) aims to reduce the prevalence of child marriage by 10% by 2026 and make India child marriage free by 2030.
- It is part of commitment to the UN to end child marriage by 2030.
What Is Child Marriage?
- Child marriage, defined under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act is a marriage between female under 18 years and a male below 21 years of age.
- Child Marriage violates important provisions of Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- It perpetuates cycles of poverty, gender inequality, and health risks, particularly in rural and tribal areas.
Status of Child Marriage in India (NFHS-5)
- Overall Decline: Child marriage rates dropped from 47.4% (2005–06) to 23.3% (2019–21), showing significant progress over the last 15 years.
- Slowing Progress: Between 2015–16 and 2019–21, the decline slowed to just 3.5 percentage points, indicating challenges in eliminating the practice completely.
- Regional Disparities: Highest prevalence among women aged 18–29 years in West Bengal (42%), Bihar (40%), Tripura (39%).
- Lowest rates in Lakshadweep (4%), Jammu & Kashmir (6%), Ladakh (6%), Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Nagaland (7% each).
Causes of Prevalence of Child marriages in India
- Legal and Policy-related:
- Poor implementation of existing laws: Despite legal provisions like the PCMA and POCSO, enforcement is weak, making laws largely ineffective.
- Lack of awareness, and inadequate monitoring: Especially in rural and remote areas leads to continuation of menace of child marriage. E.g. Conviction and Reporting of child marriage cases are extremely low.
- Education Gap: 48% of girls with no education married before 18, compared to only 4% with higher education, showing education as a key protective factor.
- Economic:
- Economic Disparity: 40% of girls from the lowest wealth quintile married as children, versus 8% from the highest quintile, highlighting the role of poverty.
- Marriage as financial transaction: Young girls are sometimes "traded" to settle debts, secure wealth, or gain economic stability.
- Not limited to poor families: Even affluent families sometimes marry off daughters early to preserve social standing.
- Cultural and Social:
- Social Backwardness: A higher prevalence of child marriage among Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/STs) with 26% marrying below the stipulated legal age. (NFHS-5)
- Preservation of family honour: Emphasis on virginity, family reputation, and moral norms encourages early marriage.
- Traditional and patriarchal practices: Cultural beliefs value older husbands as protectors and view unmarried girls as liabilities.
- Societal pressure and gender norms: Women's dependence on men, expectations of early childbearing and social perceptions of prosperity through many children reinforces child marriage.
- Regional and community practices: Certain communities continue the practice due to entrenched cultural norms, regardless of laws or economic status.
- State Differentials: Eight Indian states report child-marriage rates above the national average, with West Bengal, Bihar, and Tripura topping the list where over 40% of women aged 20–24 were married before turning 18.
Initiatives taken by Government
- Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006: It prohibits marriage of girls under 18 and boys under 21. Section 16 of Act authorizes State Government to appoint Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPO).
- Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012: It helps prevent child marriage by protecting children from sexual exploitation.
- The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015: It has provisions for care and protection of children who are at imminent risk of marriage before attaining the age of marriage through Child Welfare Committees.
- Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme (2015): Implemented by Ministry of Women and Child Development, it aims to break gender stereotypes & challenges son-centric rituals.
- State Government Initiatives:
- West Bengal's Kanyashree scheme: Annual ₹1,000 for girls aged 13–18 and a one-time ₹25,000 grant for 18–19-year-olds, conditional on continued education and delayed marriage.
- Sustained Participation of Government, community, and widespread awareness drives resulted in Balod district in Chhattisgarh becoming India's first child marriage-free district.
- North East Tribes marry at a later age as compared to other regions of country. E.g. Mao, Paomai Naga and among the Tangkhul Nagas of Manipur.
Way Forward
- Legislative Reforms: Uniform Code for the age of marriage of women belonging to all the religions, regions etc.
- Regular Aggregation and collection of Data: Related to child marriages at sustained time period to help in policy formulation and ground level implementation as the cases often go under reported.
- Enforcement: As per SC Judgement in Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action vs. UoI Case, the States and Union Territories to appoint full-time dedicated Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) at district/sub-district levels.
- Establish Special Child Marriage Prohibition Units for coordination, monitoring, and grievance redressal.
- Akshaya Tritiya directive: Issued by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), which targeted culturally sensitive high-risk periods for mass weddings.
- Prevention: Mandatory multi-sectoral awareness campaigns involving schools, Anganwadis, NGOs, and religious leaders.
- Training for police, judiciary, teachers, and health workers.
- Maintaining databases of at-risk areas.
Conclusion
The approach to address child marriage must be through the entire lifecycle of a child, especially by addressing persisting harmful social norms, which are key drivers for the high prevalence of child marriage in India.
