NITI Aayog and AVA Join Forces to Make 15,000 Villages Child Marriage Free

NITI Aayog and the Association for Voluntary Action (AVA) have come together to collaboratively focus on the most vulnerable regions of India to protect, empower and educate children, and aims to declare 15,000 villages in 104 blocks in the country ‘Child Marriage Free’ in one year. Through a Statement of Intent (SoI) signed in New Delhi, this collaboration will target the Aspirational Blocks in 73 districts to protect children from exploitation due to child labour, trafficking and child marriage, and establish Bal Surakshit Grams as a safety net for vulnerable children in these districts. This initiative is aligned with the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, which aims to transform the 112 most underdeveloped districts across the nation.

Under the two-year SoI, a comprehensive strategy will be implemented to empower young girls, strengthen the education ecosystem in some of the most underserved and vulnerable regions of India. Movement and marriage registers will be established at the Panchayat level across all targeted villages to monitor and prevent child marriage and child trafficking. Vulnerable and out-of-school children will be connected to education and skill development opportunities, while at-risk individuals and families will be linked to existing government social welfare schemes.

The Just Rights for Children (JRC), of which AVA is a member, will establish Surakshit Bal Gram- a flagship model developed by JRC to foster communities free from child marriage and exploitation. Just Rights for Children is a network of over 200 civil society organizations working across 416 districts in 26 states to combat crimes against children.

Speaking on the occasion, Dhananjay Tingal, Executive Director, Association for Voluntary Action, said, “We are filled with immense pride and gratitude today as we take a significant step forward in empowering the most vulnerable sections of our society. With collaborated efforts, we aim to make these blocks child marriage free by the end of 2025 and set a precedent for others. This collaboration is a testament to our shared commitment to protecting every child’s right to safety, education, and dignity, and to end crimes like child marriage. True child protection can only be achieved through the collective effort of government bodies, civil society organizations, and communities working in unison across every level—district, block, and state.”

NITI Aayog will collaborate with the state governments, central ministries and other key stakeholders at the district, block and village levels while AVA will work on identifying such families, collaborating with district administration, state governments, and central ministries for timely interventions and develop a robust database to track the progress of every child and vulnerable family in real-time among other things. Association for Voluntary Action will work closely with District Administration on key indicators on education and child protection, including child labour, child trafficking and child marriage, across selected districts/blocks.

The initiative will also see the involvement of India Child Protection, an associate organization of the Association for Voluntary Action, which specializes in addressing child sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking in the digital space. India Child Protection will support the project through strategic interventions, including research, training, and monitoring.