NEW DELHI:With the aim to reduce prevalence of child marriages to 10% by 2026 and to make India child marriage free by 2030, a 100-day 'intensive awareness campaign for a child marriage fee bharat’ was launched on Thursday.
The special campaign, launched by Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Annapurna Devi, will focus on targeted outreach each month: beginning with schools and colleges, followed by religious institutions and service providers, and culminating with local self-governments.
Speaking at the launch of the intensive awareness campaign, which will run till March 8, celebrated as International Women’s Day, Devi said, “child marriage snatches childhood away from daughters and pushes them towards early maternity and unimaginable suffering."
She stressed that the country must adopt "zero tolerance" towards child marriage and urged states, civil society groups, and community leaders to unite with an "unwavering commitment" to eliminate the practice.
She said though India has made "historic progress,” far more remains to be done. "Even one child marriage is unacceptable for us," she said.
The minister traced the journey from the Sarda Act, 1929 to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, noting that the legal framework had become stronger over the decades, yet harmful social norms persisted.
"Child marriage is not just a violation of the law. It takes away a daughter's childhood and pushes her towards early maternity and unimaginable suffering," she said.
She showcased the improvements due to the government initiatives such as 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao,' pointing to rising sex ratios and higher enrolment of girls in secondary and higher education.
"Today, our daughters are changing faster than ever before. Whether in sports, defence, mining or space, they are creating new history," she said.
The minister also noted the progress of the Surajpur district in Chhattisgarh, where 75 panchayats have reported no child marriages for two consecutive years, saying, "If one district can achieve this, the entire nation can become child marriage free."
WCD Secretary, Anil Malik, said that laws alone cannot eradicate the practice.
Calling child marriage "a crime against humanity," he recalled that about 47% of marriages in India involved minors two decades ago, a figure that had fallen sharply according to the latest Sample Registration System data.
He explained that more than 38,000 Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) were now registered on the national portal, which is available in 22 languages and allows citizens to report violations or take a digital pledge.
"Making an activity criminal does not stop the activity," he said, adding that “if you cannot intervene yourself, inform a CMPO. Awareness, reporting, and collective action are all welcome.”
Last year, over 22 lakh individuals and organisations interacted with the portal, and more than 50,000 people formally pledged to prevent child marriage.
The aim of the intensive campaign is to eliminate child marriage through sustained awareness and enforcement by 2030; strengthen community and village-level institutions to end child marriage and make registration of marriage compulsory; promote proactive reporting and monitoring via the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat portal; recognize and certify child marriage-free villages and top-performing districts; build capacity of law enforcement and child protection agencies for immediate response on complaints related to child marriage.
The idea is also to appeal to faith leaders, local communities, temples, mosques and churches to support in eradicating child marriage by refusing to solemnise child marriage in their regions; and prevent, protect, promote enforcement of laws to make Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat.
Officials said the key deliverables of this campaign is sensitisation sessions, debates, and pledge ceremonies in schools and colleges; undertakings from marriage service providers to not support child marriages; gram sabha resolutions declaring villages child marriage-free; and issuance of Child Marriage-Free Village Certificates and Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Yodha titles to top 10 districts.
At the event, civil society representatives shared success stories of interventions, including school programs, door-to-door campaigns, and community counselling that prevented dozens of child marriages in high-risk districts.