New Delhi: A nationwide campaign is being launched- “Child Marriage Free India Campaign“For the purpose of freeing the country from this danger child marriageWomen and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi on Wednesday highlighted that available data shows that nearly two lakh child marriages were stopped in the last one year.
“Today, one in five girls in our country is married before the age of 18. Child marriage is one of the most serious forms of human rights violation and is also a criminal offense under the law,” Devi said. He highlighted India’s progress in fighting this menace in campaign mode and significantly contributed to the sharp global decline in child marriage rates seen in South Asia, where the prevalence of child marriage according to the National Family Health Survey-5 is 23.3%. 2019-21. It was 26.8% in 2015-16 and 47.4% in 2005-06.
The Minister also urged the states to prepare action plans that could contribute to reducing the prevalence rate of child marriage to below 5% by 2029. The WCD Minister said the nationwide campaign aims to drive down and focus on high burden states and districts with special focus. Village to deal with the problem.
The Minister also launched a national platform – “Child Marriage Free India Portal” where henceforth people will be able to register their complaints related to child marriage and these will be directly directed to the concerned Child Marriage Prohibition Officer (CMPO) anywhere in the country. ,
All states have been directed to log-on to the portal and register CMPOs so that real-time monitoring of cases can be done. The WCD ministry is planning to appoint a nodal officer at the center to monitor the portal. The minister also said that the “campaign” is not a sporadic one-time campaign but an exercise that will continue with the aim of eradicating child marriage.
Seven high burden states from NFHS-5 data – West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Tripura, Assam and Andhra Pradesh and around 300 districts where the prevalence of child marriage is higher than the national average, will be in focus under the outreach campaign.
“The figures also show that nearly 2 lakh child marriages have been prevented in a single year. Additionally, a UN report states that the most significant global decline in child marriage rates has been seen in South Asian countries, including India has played an important role in this achievement,” he said, taking inspiration from the available data and research.
national campaign This comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s October 18 judgment emphasizing the need for a “whole of government and whole of society” approach to tackle child marriage and bring about cultural change. WCD Ministry officials said that in pursuance of the approach laid down by the Supreme Court, the implementation of the national campaign is to ensure Child Marriage Prohibition Act 2006 And secure the rights of girls.