Awareness drive to make India free of child marriage by 2030 launched
NEW DELHI: To reduce prevalence of child marriages to 10% by 2026 and to make India child marriage free by 2030, a 100-day intensive awareness campaign for a child marriage-free Bharat was launched on Thursday by Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Annapurna Devi. The campaign will focus on targeted outreach each month: beginning with schools and colleges, followed by religious institutions and service providers, and culminating with local self-governments. Speaking at the launch of the intensive awareness campaign, which will run till March 8, celebrated as International Womens Day, Devi said, Child marriage snatches childhood away from daughters and pushes them towards early maternity and unimaginable suffering. She stressed that the country must adopt zero tolerance towards child marriage and urged states, civil society groups, and community leaders to unite with an unwavering commitment to eliminate the practice. She said though India has made historic progress, far more remains to be done. Even one child marriage is unacceptable for us, she said. The minister traced the journey from the Sarda Act, 1929 to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, noting that the legal framework had become stronger over the decades, yet harmful social norms persisted. Child marriage is not just a violation of the law. It takes away a daughters childhood and pushes her towards early maternity and unimaginable suffering,she said. WCD Secretary, Anil Malik, said that laws alone cannot eradicate the practice, child marriage a crime against humanity.
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