‘Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat’ Campaign to Accelerate our Fight Against this crime: Just Rights for Children alliance

‘Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat’- the national campaign against child marriage launched by Government of India’s Women and Child Development Ministry is a crucial step in ending this social crime and is sure to accelerate their fight to eliminate it, believes Just Rights for Children (JRC) alliance. JRC is a national alliance of over 250 partners working in 416 districts of the country where the prevalence of child marriage is much higher than the national average. The alliance partners have prevented the child marriages across India through persuasion and legal interventions. As per the National Family Health Survey V (2019-21), in India, 23.3 per cent of women (between the age of 20-24 years) were married before they turned 18.

The Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Campaign was launched at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi by Smt Annpurna Devi, Union Minister of Women and Child Development. The unique Campaign by the Union government is aimed at awareness generation among the masses, at scale, to eradicate child marriage in India. At the launch of Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat, Smt Annpurna Devi, Union Minister of Women and Child Development emphasized the role of partnership and participation especially of the civil society in our country. The Campaign comes as a big boost for the work JRC has been doing to reach the tipping point to ending child marriage.

Welcoming the launch of the national campaign against child marriage and extending wholehearted support to the initiative, JRC alliance founder Bhuwan Ribhu said, “Today marks a new beginning for all of us working towards a Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat—a Child Marriage Free Bharat. We have come a long way and our efforts will gain a massive push due to this initiative by the Women and Child Development Ministry and Union Minister Smt Annpurna Devi. We are deeply grateful to the government for taking this decisive step toward creating a Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat. It is the beginning of the end of child marriage in the country.”

Aligned with the Campaign’s objectives, JRC has been conducting awareness generation among the masses, at scale, against child marriage in India. The alliance is certain that the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Campaign will bolster their efforts at the grassroots level with village authorities, faith leaders, community workers, community leaders, children and teachers.

The alliance will also continue to use policies, law enforcement, consistent messaging and technology to prevent child marriages.