Social Scourge: Child Marriage in India

The Union government recently marked the first anniversary of its Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Abhiyan with a 100-day awareness campaign to make the country free of child marriage.

Framework to Eliminate Child Marriage in India

• Sharda Act, 1929: The first law to curb child marriage in India was the Sharda Act, 1929, also known as the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929.
• Global Commitments: India has made international commitments under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030, specifically Goal 5 and Target 5.3, to eliminate child, forced, and early marriages

Data Check- NFHS Trends

• Declining Child Marriage Rates: Child marriages have been consistently dropping from 47.4% in 2005–06 to 23.3% in 2019–21, according to National Family Health Survey  (NFHS) data.
• Uneven Progress in a Large Population: In a diverse country with a population of 146 crore, the ground reality is that progress is varied and uneven across States and socio-economic demographics.
• High-Burden States: The highest child marriage rates among women aged 18 to 29 years are prevalent in West Bengal, Bihar, and Tripura, while Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan are not far behind.

Linkages with Poverty and Education

• Wealth and Child Marriage: There is a direct correlation between child marriage and poverty, as shown by the UN Population Fund’s analysis of National Family Health Survey data.
  • 40% of girls from the lowest quintile of the household wealth index married before they became adults, in comparison to just 8% of those from the highest quintile.
• Education and Child Marriage: 48% of girls with no education were married below 18 years in comparison to only 4% among those with higher education.

The West Bengal Paradox

• Limitations of Incentive-Based Schemes: In West Bengal, despite the Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme providing cash incentives to keep girls in school, marriage rates remain high because parents sometimes use the cash for dowries.

Legal and Institutional Framework

• Flagship Law: The Prevention of Child Marriage Act, 2006, is the flagship law to end the practice of child marriage.
• Issues in Implementation: Figures from the National Crime Records Bureau indicate infrequent application of the law and a low conviction rate as families settle issues privately due to fear of social stigma.
• Use of POCSO Act: The use of laws such as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, which are stringent and provide no leeway for consenting sexual adolescents, has led to other concerns.
  • Many underage girls are turning to unregistered and unprofessional help, which endangers their health further, as they are afraid of triggering harsh punishments from the criminal justice system.

Cost of Inaction

• Link with Sustainable Development Goals: According to Girls Not Brides, at least nine of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved without ending child marriage.
• Health Impacts: Poor Maternal Health (High Maternal Mortality Ratio), Poor Child Health (Stunting, Malnutrition), and the Cycle of Poverty continues to the next generation.

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Way Forward

• Strengthening Central Campaigns: The Centre’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign must do much more to reach the most vulnerable communities and ensure that infrastructure, such as clean toilets and safe public transport, is in place to keep girls in school.
• Addressing Multiple Drivers: In India, unless the several factors driving child marriage — poverty, education, health, and gender inequality — are addressed, it will be impossible to bridge the gap between policy and practice.
• Empowerment: There is a need to shift from marriage-centric to career-centric upbringing.
• Policy Review: Policy review should be undertaken to review why States such as West Bengal, which incentivise girls to study with a cash scheme, still have a high incidence of child marriage.

Conclusion

Child marriage in India persists due to poverty, low education, social norms, and weak law enforcement. Effective elimination requires holistic action through strengthened awareness campaigns, improved school safety, career-focused empowerment, and systematic policy review to break the cycle of poverty, poor health, and gender inequality.

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