The campaign calls on all citizens to actively oppose child marriage and is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Women and Child Development and various other Ministries.
About the Campaign
- Focus Areas: In seven States with high burden of child marriages and in nearly 300 high-burden districts.
- Collaborative approach: Call on every State and Union Territory to devise an action plan aimed at reducing the child marriage rates below 5% by 2029.
- Child Marriage Free Bharat Portal: An innovative online platform that enables citizens to report child marriage incidents, file complaints, and access information about Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) nationwide.
Status of Child Marriage in India
- Reduction in Child Marriage: As per NFHS-5,Child marriage has decreased from 47.4% in 2005–06 to 26.8% in 2015–16.
- Variation by household wealth: According to NFHS-5, 40% of females in the lowest quintile married before the age of 18, compared to only 8% in the highest quintile.
- States with high prevalence: West Bengal, Bihar, Tripura, Jharkhand,Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.
Steps taken by government
- Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA): Prohibits child marriages where females are under 18 and males are under 21.
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: India is a signatory.
- National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR): Runs awareness programs to fight child marriage.
