Lok Sabha Question No. 1041 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-21
Subject: Child Marriages
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: KONDA VISHWESHWAR REDDY, HARI BABU KAMBHAMPATI, SUSHMITA DEV, B. SREERAMULU, JYOTIRADITYA MADHAVRAO SCINDIA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1041

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2017

## CHILD MARRIAGES

1041.    SHRI KONDA VISHWESHWAR REDDY: SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA: DR. KAMBHAMPATI HARIBABU: KUMARI SUSHMITA DEV: SHRI B. SRIRAMULU

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of cases of child marriages reported/registered in various parts of the country during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT wise;
- (b) whether the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has also identified a large number of districts having high incidence of child marriages and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the  detailed  reasons  of  child  marriages  and  its  effect  on  infant  and  maternal  mortality  rate  in  the country, particularly in rural areas;
- (d) whether the Government/NCPCR has issued any directions/guidelines or advisory to the States/UTs in this regard, if so, the details and the compliance status thereof; and
- (e) whether the  Government also proposes  to review/amend the implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and if so, the details thereof along with the other measures taken by the Government to prevent child marriages in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI KRISHNA RAJ)

- (a): As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, a total number of 280, 293 and 326 cases have been registered under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) 2006 in the year 2014, 2015  and  2016  respectively.  The  States/UTs  wise  details  of  number  of  cases  registered  under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 during 2013 to 2016 are at Annexure-I.
- (b): National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) made 'A Statistical Analysis of Child Marriage  in  India  based  on  Census  2011'  wherein  70  districts  out  of  640  districts  with  high incidence of child marriages were identified.  The list of these 70 districts is at Annexure -II.
- (c): The reasons for child marriage are complex and it is a mindset problem which considers girl child as a  burden.  Social  customs,  tradition,  illiteracy,  poverty,  low  status  of  women  in  society,  lack  of awareness about consequences of child marriage are some of the other reasons that encourage the practice of child marriage.  Further, marriage at a young age for girls increases their fertility span which often results in early pregnancy and multiple pregnancies, birth complications, delivery of low birth-weight babies, adding to both higher infant mortality and maternal mortality ratio.
- (d): National  Commission  for  Protection  of  Child  Rights  (NCPCR)  has  issued  advisory  to  all  the States/UTs requesting them to take effective steps to prevent child marriage in the country especially as occasions of Akshaya Tritya/Akha Teej and other similar festivals.
- (e):       There is no proposal under consideration to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.  The Government of India has enacted the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 in order to prohibit child marriages rather than only restraining them. States/UTs from time to time are being regularly pursued for effective implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. However, the issues   involved  is  the  prevalence  of  child  marriage  cannot  be  tackled  by  legislative  interventions alone.  This  is  a  continuous  process  and  Government  undertakes  media  campaigns  and  outreach programmes to address this.

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## Annexure referred to in reply to Part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.1041 for 21.07.2017 regarding Child Marriage

## No. of Cases Registered (CR) under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 during last three year

| Sl. No.   | State/UT          | 2014   | 2015   | 2016*   |
|-----------|-------------------|--------|--------|---------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    | 16     | 15     | 19      |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 3         | Assam             | 4      | 14     | 23      |
| 4         | Bihar             | 10     | 0      | 0       |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      | 2      | 6      | 8       |
| 6         | Goa               | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 7         | Gujarat           | 16     | 9      | 12      |
| 8         | Haryana           | 15     | 14     | 14      |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh  | 4      | 1      | 0       |
| 10        | Jammu &Kashmir    | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 11        | Jharkhand         | 1      | 1      | 4       |
| 12        | Karnataka         | 44     | 35     | 51      |
| 13        | Kerala            | 19     | 13     | 8       |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh    | 15     | 9      | 9       |
| 15        | Maharashtra       | 14     | 24     | 16      |
| 16        | Manipur           | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 17        | Meghalaya         | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 18        | Mizoram           | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 19        | Nagaland          | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 20        | Odisha            | 0      | 1      | 15      |
| 21        | Punjab            | 2      | 5      | 8       |
| 22        | Rajasthan         | 5      | 6      | 12      |
| 23        | Sikkim            | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 24        | Tamil Nadu        | 47     | 77     | 55      |
| 25        | Telangana         | 13     | 15     | 19      |
| 26        | Tripura           | 1      | 2      | 1       |
| 27        | Uttar Pradesh     | 10     | 4      | 3       |
| 28        | Uttarakhand       | 0      | 1      | 1       |
| 29        | West Bengal       | 37     | 40     | 41      |
| 30        | A &NIslands       | 0      | 1      | 1       |
| 31        | Chandigarh        | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 32        | D &NHaveli        | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 33        | Daman &Diu        | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 34        | Delhi             | 2      | 0      | 1       |
| 35        | Lakshadweep       | 0      | 0      | 0       |
| 36        | Puducherry        | 3      | 0      | 5       |
|           | Total             | 280    |        | 326     |
|           |                   |        | 293    |         |

Annexure-II

Annexure referred to in reply to Part (b) the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.1041 for 21.07.2017 regarding Child Marriage

List of 70 districts with high incidence of child marriages

|   Sl. No | State             | Districts       |   Sl. No | State         | Districts        |
|----------|-------------------|-----------------|----------|---------------|------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh    | Hyderabad       |       36 | Maharashtra   | Bhandara         |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh    | Rangareddy      |       37 | Maharashtra   | Chandrapur       |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh | Lower Subansiri |       38 | Maharashtra   | Dhule            |
|        4 | Arunachal Pradesh | Kurung Kumey    |       39 | Maharashtra   | Jalgaon          |
|        5 | Arunachal Pradesh | Changlang       |       40 | Maharashtra   | Jalna            |
|        6 | Assam             | Dhubri          |       41 | Maharashtra   | Kolhapur         |
|        7 | Assam             | Goalpara        |       42 | Maharashtra   | Latur            |
|        8 | Bihar             | Nawada          |       43 | Maharashtra   | Mumbai           |
|        9 | Bihar             | Jamui           |       44 | Maharashtra   | Mumbai Suburban  |
|       10 | Bihar             | Gaya            |       45 | Maharashtra   | Parbhani         |
|       11 | Bihar             | Arwal           |       46 | Maharashtra   | Pune             |
|       12 | Bihar             | Sheohar         |       47 | Maharashtra   | Sangli           |
|       13 | Bihar             | Jehanabad       |       48 | Maharashtra   | Satara           |
|       14 | Gujarat           | Ahmedabad       |       49 | Maharashtra   | Sindhudurg       |
|       15 | Gujarat           | Anand           |       50 | Maharashtra   | Thane            |
|       16 | Gujarat           | Dahod           |       51 | Rajasthan     | Ajmer            |
|       17 | Gujarat           | Kheda           |       52 | Rajasthan     | Banswara         |
|       18 | Gujarat           | Valsad          |       53 | Rajasthan     | Bhilwara         |
|       19 | Gujarat           | Gandhinagar     |       54 | Rajasthan     | Bundi            |
|       20 | Haryana           | Mewat           |       55 | Rajasthan     | Chittaurgarh     |
|       21 | Jharkhand         | Pakur           |       56 | Rajasthan     | Dausa            |
|       22 | Jharkhand         | Deoghar         |       57 | Rajasthan     | Jaipur           |
|       23 | Jharkhand         | Giridih         |       58 | Rajasthan     | Jhalawar         |
|       24 | Karnataka         | Davanagere      |       59 | Rajasthan     | Karauli          |
|       25 | Karnataka         | Bagalkot        |       60 | Rajasthan     | Nagaur           |
|       26 | Madhya Pradesh    | Barwani         |       61 | Rajasthan     | Rajasamand       |
|       27 | Madhya Pradesh    | Jhabua          |       62 | Rajasthan     | Sawai Madhopur   |
|       28 | Madhya Pradesh    | Mandsaur        |       63 | Rajasthan     | Tonk             |
|       29 | Madhya Pradesh    | Neemuch         |       64 | Uttar Pradesh | Pratapgarh       |
|       30 | Madhya Pradesh    | Rajgarh         |       65 | Uttar Pradesh | Ghaziabad        |
|       31 | Madhya Pradesh    | Ratlam          |       66 | Uttar Pradesh | Lalitpur         |
|       32 | Madhya Pradesh    | Shajapur        |       67 | Uttar Pradesh | Shrawasti        |
|       33 | Madhya Pradesh    | Tikamgarh       |       68 | West Bengal   | Maldah           |
|       34 | Madhya Pradesh    | Ujjain          |       69 | West Bengal   | Dakshin Dinajpur |
|       35 | Maharashtra       | Ahmadnagar      |       70 | West Bengal   | Birbhum          |

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