Government of India on 13th March 2026 launched the “Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat” (Child-Marriage-Free India) campaign at Vigyan Bhawan to mark the beginning of a pioneering national effort aimed at eliminating child marriage and to protect and promote the rights of children particularly of the girls child. India’s efforts to create a Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat will reinforce our commitment for realising our children’s aspirations, for giving them an opportunity to lead complete lives and exercise their right to education, to choose and to dream for their future. This laudable endeavour aligns itself with the universal values of justice, equality, dignity and protection of children as enshrined in our Constitution.
Child marriage has been a pervasive issue in India, impacting several states due to multiple factors such as poverty, lack of formal education, traditional practices and gender inequality. The marriage of underage girls is common in India, across religious lines, as a measure to safeguard them, to ease the burden on their families and to observe societal norms and conventions. Child marriage serves to deprive the child of education, health and independence.
Campaign 'Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat' The Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign is an endeavour to reach the far flung areas and villages to highlight the bad effects of child marriage. The ministries and departments, District administrations, Schools and civil society organizations are undertaking activities such as organizing workshops, conducting Gram Sabhas, mobilizing community and through mass media to strengthen the efforts.
TCMAR also aims to enforce the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA- 2006) that makes marriage legally possible only at the age of 18 for girls and 21 for boys. The Act also provides to the authorities the power to intervene in a child marriage at all its stages and impose penalties on all those who facilitate the marriage.
The campaign is aimed at spreading awareness among the population on the importance of sending girls to school, and pursuing higher education, in order to deter early marriage. The Ministry of Education and the Planning Ministry said sending girls to school and enabling them to pursue higher education enables them to get jobs and thereby attain financial independence.
The Community Based Child Marriage Campaign is all about enhancing community participation. In this context, leaders of the villages, teachers, religious leaders and the youth have been asked to be the campaign ambassadors at the community level. The leaders have been made to understand how they can play a crucial part in ending the practice of child marriage, which has been existing in society for centuries and needs to change for the better good of the society.
Technology and digital tools are being increasingly used to track and prevent child marriage. Many countries have launched government helplines, child protection agencies, and digital reporting platforms to enable citizens to report any child marriage. Once the reports are received, governments and law enforcement agencies are able to intervene and prevent the marriage from taking place.
A further element of the project is the empowerment of vulnerable households through the establishment of a network of support. In the future, cash conditioning schemes as well as programs for the scholarships for girls and family welfare will be further developed to take into account the financial reasons often at the root of child marriage.
This initiative converges with India’s global commitment towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5, which focuses on gender equality and abolishing Child Marriage; thereby contributing towards the protection of children’s rights across the globe.
Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat is a huge leap towards building a society where every child gets to experience a safe and dignified childhood. Through implementation of law, spreading awareness through education and community participation, the campaign intends to bring child marriage to a conclusion in India.
Team Yuva Aaveg-
Adarsh Tiwari
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