Why in news?

The Union government launched a 100-day awareness drive to mark one year of the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, reaffirming India’s pledge to end child marriage by 2030.

While child marriage has declined over the past decade, progress remains uneven across States and socio-economic groups, leaving substantial gaps to meet the UN target.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Global Push to End Child Marriage: Targets, Stakes, and Slow Progress
• Child Marriage in India: Progress, Plateaus, and Persistent Inequalities
• Tackling Child Marriage in India: Laws, Campaigns, and Social Change
• Debate on Raising the Legal Age of Marriage for Women

Global Push to End Child Marriage: Targets, Stakes, and Slow Progress

• Ending child marriage is central to SDG 5 on gender equality, with Target 5.3 aiming to eliminate child, early, and forced marriages.
  • Target 5.3 is to eliminate all harmful practices, including child marriage, as well as early and forced marriages, and female genital mutilation. 
• Progress is measured by the share of women aged 20–24 married before 18.
• Experts warns that failure to end child marriage will derail at least nine SDGs, spanning poverty, health, education, economic growth, climate action, and peace.
• In 2023, UNICEF estimated 64 crore women worldwide were married as children, with India accounting for one-third.
• At current rates, progress must accelerate 20-fold to meet the 2030 goal.

Child Marriage in India: Progress, Plateaus, and Persistent Inequalities

• Sharp Decline, Slower Momentum - India reduced child marriage significantly from 47.4% (2005–06) to 26.8% (2015–16), a steep 21-point fall. However, progress slowed thereafter, declining only to 23.3% by 2019–21.
• Wide Regional Variations - Rates remain highest in West Bengal (42%), Bihar (40%), and Tripura (39%), with several other States above the national average. In contrast, Lakshadweep, J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, and Nagaland report the lowest prevalence.
• Education and Income Gaps - Child marriage is strongly linked to socio-economic status. Nearly half of girls with no education marry before 18, compared to just 4% with higher education. Similarly, 40% of girls from the poorest households marry early, against 8% from the richest quintile.

Tackling Child Marriage in India: Laws, Campaigns, and Social Change

• India enacted the Prevention of Child Marriage Act, 2006, after which child marriage rates halved.
• The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 further strengthened protection.
• However, experts stress that laws alone are insufficient without changing social norms—especially by expanding girls’ education, the most effective factor in delaying marriage.
• Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Abhiyan: On-Ground Action
  • Under the campaign, 54,917 Child Marriage Prevention Officers have been appointed nationwide.
  • In one year, 1,520 child marriages were prevented through persuasion or administrative action, with Madhya Pradesh and Haryana leading.
  • Still, 198 cases could not be stopped, requiring police or child welfare intervention.
  • The campaign also works with faith leaders, youth groups, and community networks to encourage reporting and shift attitudes at the grassroots.
• Girls’ Empowerment and Welfare Schemes
  • The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme focuses on improving child sex ratio and girls’ education, though implementation has been uneven.
  • Complementary measures include financial incentives (Laadli schemes), improved school sanitation, and cycles for safe travel, aimed at keeping girls in school longer.
• State-Level Incentives: Mixed Signals
  • Some States support girls’ education through targeted aid.
  • For example, West Bengal’s Kanyashree scheme provides annual support to girls aged 13–18 and a lump sum for those delaying marriage and pursuing higher education.
  • Some women’s activists argue that the State with the highest child marriage rates is sending a confusing message through the Rupashree scheme.
  • While the scheme gives ₹25,000 to poor families only if the daughter is over 18, offering money at the time of marriage may still encourage early marriages instead of delaying them further.

Debate on Raising the Legal Age of Marriage for Women

• The Centre has proposed increasing the minimum marriage age for women to 21 years, aligning it with men to support higher education, skill development, economic independence, and better maternal and child health.
• However, the proposal has faced opposition seeking deeper scrutiny.
• Critics caution that without parallel social reforms, the change could criminalise large sections of society, as 61% of women aged 20–24 were married before turning 21.