Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Villages in 22 districts of Madhya Pradesh organised awareness programmes wherein a large number of men, women and children took a pledge to eliminate child marriage from Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, various government departments had written to the officials and other stakeholders for full-fledged participation in Child Marriage Free India campaign and take pledge to make the state child marriage-free. Child Marriage Free India is a nationwide campaign led by women activists and 160 civil society organisations in more than 300 districts to eliminate child marriage in India by 2030.
The late-evening candle marches, led by women survivors of child marriage saw the participation of an array of people cutting across all strata of the society. As per UNICEF estimates, if the progress continues at the current rate, millions of more girls from across India will be forced into child marriages till 2050.
“Child marriage has been embedded in our social fabric for ages and despite it being a crime, child marriages haven’t ceased to exist, ” said Ravi Kant, Country Head, Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF).
