Thousands of kids take part in campaign to end child marriage

Hyderabad: Thousands of residents took to the streets, schools, roads, and markets across Telangana on Thursday to participate in programmes organised by the Just Rights for Children (JRC) Alliance in support of the Government of India’s ‘Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat’ campaign.

Awareness drives, candlelight marches, and road shows against child marriage have been organised in 1,750 villages across 25 districts. In a display of solidarity for this social cause, participants—including police officers, court officials, panchayat members, religious leaders, school children, teachers, and survivors of child marriage—pledged to end child marriage and report such incidents. Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Annapurna Devi, launched the ‘Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat’ campaign on November 27 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, urging citizens to take responsibility for ending child marriage. During the launch, she administered a pledge against child marriage to representatives from all Gram Panchayats and schools in the country. The campaign aims to reach 250 million people and includes the unveiling of a national portal for reporting child marriages.

A victim of child marriage often suffers a life of extreme oppression, lacking agency and freedom. Also, child marriage significantly contributes to women’s non-participation in the workforce. The National Family Health Survey-V (NFHS 2019-21) indicates that nationally, 23.3 per cent of women aged 20-24 were married before turning 18, with Telangana reporting a slightly higher figure of 23.5 per cent.

“As we move forward, we seek the state government’s leadership to foster a culture where prevention, protection, and prosecution work to drive lasting behavioural change,” said JRC founder Bhuwan Ribhu.