Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Abhiyan:
The Union government recently marked one year of the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (BVMB) by launching a nationwide 100-day awareness campaign, reaffirming India’s commitment to the United Nations target of ending child marriage by 2030.
- BVMB was launched in 2024 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, to eliminate child marriage and make India child marriage-free by 2030.
- It reflects India’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5.3 and marks a shift from a purely legal response to a prevention- and community-driven approach.
- The campaign aims to reduce the prevalence of child marriage by 10% by 2026 and completely eradicate the practice by 2030
- Its broader goal is to protect children’s rights, delay the age of marriage, promote girls’ education, and address the social norms and economic vulnerabilities that sustain early marriage.
- It is grounded in Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and dignity, and is supported by the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006.
- It is further strengthened by the Supreme Court’s judgment in Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action & Anr v. Union of India & Ors (2024), which emphasised prevention, banned child betrothals, and directed States to create stronger institutional mechanisms against child marriage.
- The Abhiyan rests on dedicated Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) at district and sub-district levels, a technology-enabled BVMB portal for real-time reporting and monitoring, and large-scale community engagement involving schools, Anganwadis, Panchayats, NGOs, youth groups, and religious leaders.
- The campaign has led to proactive prevention through awareness drives, counselling, injunctions, and rapid response systems.
- International organisations like UNICEF have provided technical support, while model successes such as Balod district of Chhattisgarh becoming India’s first child marriage-free district and Surajpur of Chhattisgarh declaring 75 child marriage-free panchayats highlight the impact of sustained local action.
