India has committed to end child marriage by 2030 through the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and while it has made comprehensive strides, there are still miles to go to achieve the target. The Union government recently marked the first anniversary of its Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Abhiyan with a 100-day awareness campaign for a country free of child marriage. There is a direct co-relation between child marriage, poverty and education, as the UN Population Fund’s analysis of NFHS data shows. Already, it is established that child marriages can lead to poor maternal and child health. In India, unless the several factors driving child marriage — poverty, and education, health and gender inequality — are addressed, it will be impossible to bridge the gap between policy and practice.

Source: The Hindu December 27, 2025 07:58 UTC