Lok Sabha Question No. 371 (STARRED), answered on 2024-12-20
Subject: Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Campaign
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Shri Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *371

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2024

## BAL VIVAH MUKT BHARAT CAMPAIGN

- *371.  SHRI SHRIRANG APPA CHANDU BARNE: SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  of  India  has  launched  the  'Bal  Vivah  Mukt  Bharat' campaign in the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has requested the State Governments to create specific action plans for reducing child marriage rates to below 5 per cent by 2029;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along with the achievements made in this regard;
- (d) the number of districts where child marriage rates are high as compared to the national average, State-wise including Madhya Pradesh; and
- (e) the number of child marriages prevented during the last three years and current year, State-wise, particularly in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

- (a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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## Statement referred to in reply to Part (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 371 to be answered on 20.12.2024 regarding 'Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Campaign' asked by Shri Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne and Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant. (a) to (c): 'Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat' campaign launched on 27 th  November 2024 by the Government focuses on making the country child marriage free. It is one of the most important  imperatives  to  promote  education,  skilling,  enterprise  and  entrepreneurship among girls and women to realise the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat'. A  'Bal  Vivah  Mukt  Bharat  /  Child  Marriage  Free  Bharat'  portal,  an  online  platform dedicated  to  supporting  the  campaign's  vision  by  raising  awareness,  preventing  child marriages,  and  facilitating  the  effective  reporting  of  such  incidents  has  also  been launched. This will act as a centralised platform which can provide information about Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs)  at  central  level,  awareness  programmes conducted and to facilitate reporting of the child marriage incidences. A national-level training session was also conducted for all CMPOs on the day of launch of the campaign, for both attending physically and virtually, to enhance their effectiveness in this initiative. (d) and (e): Since enactment of the PCMA Act, 2006, the prevalence of child marriage has been reduced by half from approximately 47% as per National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) in 2005-06 to approximately 23.3% during 2019-21 as per NFHS-5. However, few States have higher prevalence of child marriage compared to the national average. According to the NFHS-5 data, there are around 259 districts in the country where the rate of child marriage is higher than the national average. As  per  the  National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB),  the  number  of  cases  registered under the PCMA are 501, 525, 785, 1050 and 1002 in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. The number of reported cases is now seeing an increasing trend that may be due to increased awareness among citizens. Different States have nominated the  CMPOs  at  different  levels  and  the  data  regarding  child  marriage  prevented  is maintained by them. In some States, the functionaries up to gram panchayat level have

been nominated whereas in many States it is only up to the district or sub-district level.

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