Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat

♦ Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Annapurna Devi launched the national campaign “Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat” in New Delhi on 27 November 2024.

♦ As part of the campaign, the Minister also inaugurated the Child Marriage Free Bharat Portal, an innovative online platform that enables citizens to report child marriage incidents, file complaints, and access information about Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) nationwide.

♦ The portal is a significant step in empowering citizens and enforcing the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

♦ Child marriages remain widespread in parts of India. The anti-child marriage campaign will focus on seven high-burden states—West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Tripura, Assam, and Andhra Pradesh—and 300 districts where their rates are above the national average.

♦ The aim is to reduce child marriage prevalence to below 5% by 2029. Child marriage rates dropped from 47.4% in 2006 to 23.3% in 2019-21.

National