•Thousands in Odisha extend support to Central govt’s ‘Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat’ campaign in programs organised by Just Rights for Children (JRC) Alliance
•Child marriage survivors, police officers, teachers, parents and village heads participate in foot marches and take pledges across the state
•JRC is a national alliance of over 250 NGOs working for the protection of child rights across the country
•The JRC alliance partners have prevented 2,50,000 child marriages across India
Extending their overwhelming support to Government of India’s ‘Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat’ campaign, thousands of people thronged the streets, schools, roads and markets across Odisha to participate in programs conducted by Just Rights for Children (JRC) alliance. As many as 4,000 villages in 25 districts witnessed awareness drives, candlelight marches and road shows against child marriage. In an unprecedented show of solidarity for a social cause, police stations, courtrooms, panchayats members, faith leaders, school children, teachers, children and survivors of child marriage took pledges to end child marriage and report the same. Comprising over 250 NGOs partners in over 400 districts in the country, JRC alliance has been working with the state government and local administration in Odisha ’s 25 districts to eliminate child marriage. JRC alliance partners have prevented more than 2,50,000 child marriages across India through persuasion and legal interventions.
The programmes that spread across the entire state reverberated with pledges such as, “I pledge to make every possible effort against child marriage. I pledge to ensure that no child marriage takes place in my family, neighbourhood, or community. I pledge to report any attempt of child marriage to the panchayat and the government officials.”
A child victim of marriage lives a life of abject slavery with no agency and freedom. Moreover, child marriage is the biggest contributor for non-participation of women in the work force. The National Family Health Survey-V (NFHS 2019-21) reports that nationally 23.3% women between the age group of 20-24 were married off before attaining the age of 18 whileOdisha reported 20.5 per cent.
“The pain and resilience of millions of girls and mothers, along with the tireless efforts of my colleagues across more than 250 NGOs in the Just Rights for Children alliance, have brought us this historic moment. As we move forward, we look to the government’s leadership at state to cultivate a culture where prevention, protection, and prosecution work in harmony and complement each other, leveraging partnerships to drive lasting behavioural change,” said JRC founder, Bhuwan Ribhu.
Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Annpurna Devi, launched the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Campaign on November 27 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, as a call to fellow citizens to take the onus in ending child marriage. She administered a pledge against child marriage to all gram panchayats and schools in the country and the campaign is expected to reach out to 25 crore people. A national portal for the ease of reporting child marriage was also unveiled during the launch.
In the months to come, JRC members will continue to support the state government to take this Campaign to every district, block and village of Odisha.
The alliance is hopeful that the nationwide Campaign will further intensify its work on the ground with village authorities, spreading awareness among masses and roping in faith leaders of different religions to eliminate this crime.