2 lakh child marriages prevented during past year: Minister Annapurna Devi

New Delhi: About two lakh child marriages were prevented in the past one year, even as one in five girls in India is married before reaching the legal age of 18, Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi said on Wednesday, underlining that the country has to be made completely free from this evil.

Speaking at an event to launch the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign, she urged all states and Union territories to create specific action plans aimed at reducing child marriage rates to below 5 per cent by 2029.

The Bal-Vivah Mukht Bharat Abhiyan will focus on the seven high-burden states - West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Tripura, Assam, and Andhra Pradesh - and nearly 300 high-burden districts where child marriage rates are high as compared to the national average.

"Child marriage is a significant challenge before us and is a practice that limits the potential of millions of girls. In our country today, one in every five girls is married before the age of 18. Child marriage is one of the most severe forms of human rights violations and is also a criminal offense under the law," Devi said.

She added that while laws like the Prevention of Child Marriage Act are instrumental, "we must also focus on raising awareness because legislation alone cannot eradicate this issue". Highlighting the progress India has made, she noted that the country has been a significant contributor to the sharp global decline in child marriage rates observed in South Asia.

"Figures also reveal that nearly 2 lakh child marriages have been prevented in a single year. Additionally, a United Nations report states that the most significant global decline in child marriage rates has been observed in South Asian countries, with India playing a crucial role in this achievement," she said. The Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign seeks to engage multiple stakeholders in a collective effort to eliminate child marriage.

A key feature of the initiative is the launch of the Child Marriage Free Bharat portal, a platform to raise awareness, report cases, and monitor progress. The campaign also aligns with the vision of a developed India by 2047, Devi said, emphasizing the need for full participation of women and girls in nation-building.