The Ministry of Women and Child Development’s Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat (BVMB) campaign has completed two years of operation, according to an official government backgrounder. Data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6, 2023-24) shows that the prevalence of women aged 20–24 years who married before age 18 declined to 20.1 per cent, down from 23.3 per cent in NFHS-5 (2019-21).
Launched on 27 November 2024, the campaign works alongside the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao to eliminate child marriage by 2030. To date, 71,882 Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) have been mapped on the BVMB portal, including 59,686 designated at the Gram Panchayat level.
Key achievements reported under the campaign include conducting 6.85 lakh awareness programmes, reaching 12.47 crore participants, registering 42.01 lakh pledges, and recording 4,536 child marriage incidents on the central digital platform.
What it means
- A person married as a child can petition the District Court to annul the marriage, generally within two years of reaching adulthood.
- Adult males marrying a child and individuals who perform, promote, or attend a child marriage face up to two years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹1 lakh.
- The public can look up details of Child Marriage Prohibition Officers and report child marriage incidents directly on the BVMB portal.
Source
Press Information Bureau, Government of India, “Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat”. Read the original release.
Summary of an official release for general information only. Not investment advice. Read the original source before acting on any information.
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