Question : Child Marriage

(a) whether the Government is aware of instances of child marriages occurring in the country;
(b) if so, whether the Government is aware of reports of rampant child marriages being solemnized in the State of Kerala and if so, the details thereof along with the number of such child marriages reported between 2018 to 2020; and
(c) the action taken by the Government in this regard including initiatives taken for creating awareness with support of voluntary and rights groups and other Government agencies?

(a) & (b): The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes information on crimes in its publication “Crime in India”. The published reports are available till the year 2020. The State-wise data including that of Kerala is available on the website of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), https://ncrb.gov.in. As per the information available from the year 2018 – 2020, total 33 cases under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (18 cases in 2018, 7 cases in 2019 and 8 cases in 2020) have been reported in the State of Kerala.

(c): The Government has enacted the ‘Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006’. The Government also undertakes awareness drives, media campaigns and outreach programmes and issues advisories to the States/ UTs from time to time to highlight evil effects of this practice. Further, the Ministry of Women and Child Development implements the scheme of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)’ in which creation of awareness on matters pertaining to gender equality and discouraging of child marriage is an important focus area.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also undertakes awareness programmes and consultations with stakeholders from time to time in this regard. In addition, Government of India has introduced CHILDLINE 1098, a 24/7 telephone emergency outreach service for children in crisis which responds with suitable interventions to calls for any form of assistance which a child requires, including for prevention of child marriages in coordination with police, Child Marriage Prohibition Officers, District Child Protection Units etc.
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