Lok Sabha Question No. 4977 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-31
Subject: Child Marriages
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Chandrani Murmu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4977

TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.03.2023

## CHILD MARRIAGES

## 4977.   MS. CHANDRANI MURMU:

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

- (a) whether the Government has data to explain the number of child marriages that have taken place across the country during the last five years, State-wise;
- (b) whether there is any increase in the trend and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  initiatives  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  eradicate  the  practice  of  child marriage; and
- (d) the main areas and communities where child marriage is rampant?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) & (b): The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes the data on the number of cases of child marriage registered under 'the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006' in its publication 'Crime in India'. The said report is available upto the year 2021. As per information available with NCRB, the number of cases registered under 'the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, (PCMA),2006' during the last five years i.e. 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 are 395, 501, 523, 785 and 1050 respectively. However, higher reporting of cases does not necessarily reflect increase in the number of cases of child marriages, but it  may be because of increased awareness among citizens to report such incidents due to initiatives by the Government and better enforcement of law by States/ UTs. The State-wise details of child marriage registered under PCMA, 2006 is at Annexure.

(c):   The Government has enacted 'the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006' (PCMA) in order to curb child marriages and to take punitive actions against those associate with child marriages.  Section  16  of  Prohibition  of  Child  Marriage  Act  (PCMA)  authorises  the  State Government to appoint for the whole State, or such part there of as may be specified, an officer  or  officers  to  be  known  as  the  'Child  Marriage  Prohibition  Officers  (CMPO)'  having jurisdiction over the area or areas specified in the notification. This section also specifies the functions to be discharged by CMPOs, which also include preventing solemnisation of child marriages by taking such action as they may deem fit; to collect evidence for the effective prosecution of persons contravening the provisions of the Act; to advise the individuals or counsel the residents of  the locality not to indulge in promoting, helping, aiding or allowing the  solemnisation  of  child  marriages;  to  create  awareness  about  the  ill  effects  of  child marriages; and to sensitize the community on the issue of child marriages. These authorities function under the respective State Governments/ UT Administrations. As such, implementation of the provisions of the Act lies with them.

'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens,  investigation  and  prosecution  of  crime  against  women  and  children  including prohibition  of  child  marriages,  rest  with  the  respective  State  Governments.  The  State Governments are competent to deal with such offenses under the extant provisions of laws.

Nevertheless, the Central Government undertakes awareness drives, media campaigns and outreach programs and issues advisories to the States/ UTs from time to time to highlight evil effects of this practice. The Ministry has also written to all States/ UTs to increase the number of CMPOs, as presence of Statutory Officer at local levels would result in even more effective public engagement on the subject and prevention of solemnisation of child marriage. Further, the  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  implements  the  Beti  Bachao  Beti  Padhao (BBBP) scheme, wherein creation of awareness on matters pertaining to gender equality and discouraging  child  marriage  is  an  important  focus  area.  The  National  Commission  for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also undertakes awareness programs and consultations with  stakeholders  from  time  to  time  in  this  regard.  In  addition,  Government  of  India  has introduced CHILDLINE with short code 1098, a 24X7 telephone emergency outreach service for  children  in  crisis  which  responds  with  suitable  interventions  to  call  for  any  form  of assistance which a child requires, including for prevention of child marriages in coordination with police, Child Marriage Protection Officers (CMPOs), District Child Protection Units etc.

(d): Instances have come to the notice that some sections of society continue to indulge in the practice of child marriage in the name of custom, practices and/ or religious beliefs etc. In some cases, writ petitions have also been filed before Hon'ble Courts of law for upholding the validity of marriage of a minor girl on these grounds under personal laws. The Government has introduced a Bill namely 'the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the Parliament on 21.12.2021 for raising the age of marriage of women to 21 years to make it at par with the men. The proposed Bill also has provisions to make consequential amendments in  the  enactments,  inter  alia,  relating  to  age  of  marriage  of  parties,  such  as  'The  Indian Christian  Marriage  Act,  1872',  'The  Parsi  Marriage  and  Divorce  Act,  1936',  'The  Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937', 'The Special Marriage Act, 1954', 'The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955', and 'The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969'. The Bill has since been referred to Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports for examination.

Further, since enactment of PCMA, the prevalence of child marriage has reduced by half from 47% in  2006  to  23.3%  during  2019-21(NFHS-5).  However,  a  few  States  such  as  Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura and West Bengal have higher prevalence of child marriage than national average as per NFHS-5.

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Annexure-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) &(b) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.4977  FOR  ANSWER  ON  31.03.2023  ASKED  BY  MS. CHANDRANI MURMU REGARDING 'CHILD MARRIAGES'

The State-wise details of child marriage registered under PCMA, 2006 during the last five years i.e. 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

| SL                            | State/UT                      | 2017   | 2018   | 2019   |   2020 |   2021 |
|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1Andhra Pradesh               | 1Andhra Pradesh               | 15     | 14     | 4      |     32 |     19 |
| 2Arunachal Pradesh            | 2Arunachal Pradesh            | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 3Assam                        | 3Assam                        | 58     | 88     | 115    |    138 |    155 |
| 4Bihar                        | 4Bihar                        | 17     | 35     | 8      |      5 |     11 |
| 5Chhattisgarh                 | 5Chhattisgarh                 | 1      | 2      | 0      |      1 |      0 |
| 6Goa                          | 6Goa                          | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 7Gujarat                      | 7Gujarat                      | 6      | 8      | 20     |     15 |     12 |
| 8Haryana                      | 8Haryana                      | 18     | 21     | 20     |     33 |     33 |
| 9Himachal Pradesh             | 9Himachal Pradesh             | 5      | 9      | 4      |      5 |      5 |
| 10Jharkhand                   | 10Jharkhand                   | 1      | 7      | 3      |      3 |      4 |
| 11Karnataka                   | 11Karnataka                   | 65     | 73     | 111    |    184 |    273 |
| 12Kerala                      | 12Kerala                      | 15     | 18     | 7      |      8 |     12 |
| 13Madhya Pradesh              | 13Madhya Pradesh              | 5      | 3      | 4      |      5 |      4 |
| 14Maharashtra                 | 14Maharashtra                 | 20     | 13     | 20     |     50 |     82 |
| 15Manipur                     | 15Manipur                     | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      2 |
| 16Meghalaya                   | 16Meghalaya                   | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 17Mizoram                     | 17Mizoram                     | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 18Nagaland                    | 18Nagaland                    | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 19Odisha                      | 19Odisha                      | 17     | 22     | 22     |     24 |     64 |
| 20Punjab                      | 20Punjab                      | 8      | 6      | 6      |     13 |      8 |
| 21Rajasthan                   | 21Rajasthan                   | 6      | 11     | 19     |      3 |     11 |
| 22Sikkim                      | 22Sikkim                      | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 23Tamil Nadu                  | 23Tamil Nadu                  | 55     | 67     | 46     |     77 |    169 |
| 24Telangana                   | 24Telangana                   | 25     | 24     | 35     |     60 |     57 |
| 25Tripura                     | 25Tripura                     | 1      | 1      | 0      |      4 |      1 |
| 26Uttar Pradesh               | 26Uttar Pradesh               | 4      | 4      | 4      |     12 |      6 |
| 27Uttarakhand                 | 27Uttarakhand                 | 1      | 2      | 2      |      9 |     12 |
| 28West Bengal                 | 28West Bengal                 | 49     | 70     | 68     |     98 |    105 |
| TOTAL STATE(S)                | TOTAL STATE(S)                | 392    | 498    | 518    |    779 |   1045 |
| 29A&N Islands                 | 29A&N Islands                 | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 30Chandigarh                  | 30Chandigarh                  | 2      | 2      | 1      |      1 |      0 |
| 31D&N Haveli and Daman & Diu+ | 31D&N Haveli and Daman & Diu+ | 0      | 0      | 1      |      0 |      0 |
| 32Delhi                       | 32Delhi                       | 1      | 1      | 2      |      4 |      2 |
| 33Jammu & Kashmir*            | 33Jammu & Kashmir*            | 0      | 0      | 1      |      1 |      2 |
| 34Ladakh                      | 34Ladakh                      |        |        |        |      0 |      0 |
| 35Lakshadweep                 | 35Lakshadweep                 | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 36Puducherry                  | 36Puducherry                  | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      1 |
| TOTAL UT(S)                   | TOTAL UT(S)                   | 3      | 3      | 5      |      6 |      5 |
| TOTAL (ALL INDIA)             | TOTAL (ALL INDIA)             | 395    | 501    | 523    |    785 |   1050 |

Source: Crime in India

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