Ending Child Marriage in India: Between National Promise and Local Reality

— early pregnancies, anaemia, maternal mortality, and poor child health. Ironically, overly punitive legal approaches can worsen these risks. Fear of prosecution has driven some underage girls away from formal healthcare systems, undermining the very protection such laws aim to provide.

This tension underscores the need for a health-centred and rights-based approach that prioritises care, counselling, and prevention alongside legal deterrence.

Limits of Incentive-Based Schemes

Several States have introduced cash incentives to delay marriage and keep girls in school. While such schemes are important, their limited impact in high-prevalence States reveals their shortcomings. Financial incentives cannot compensate for unsafe school environments, lack of transport, inadequate sanitation facilities, or persistent fears about girls’ security.

Campaigns like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao have raised visibility, but critics argue that implementation has been uneven and insufficiently targeted toward the most marginalised communities where child marriage persists.

Child Marriage and the SDG Web

Child marriage is not an isolated social issue; it is deeply interlinked with multiple development goals. According to global advocacy groups, progress on at least half of the Sustainable Development Goals — including health, education, gender equality, poverty reduction, and economic growth — depends on ending the practice.

In India, early marriage truncates education, restricts women’s workforce participation, and perpetuates intergenerational poverty. Failure to address it comprehensively risks undermining the broader development agenda.

Bridging the Gap Between Policy and Practice

Ending child marriage requires a shift from episodic campaigns to sustained, multi-sectoral action. Laws must be enforced fairly and sensitively. Schools must be safe, accessible, and relevant for adolescent girls. Economic security for families must improve through livelihood support and social protection. Most importantly, community norms must evolve through dialogue involving parents, religious leaders, local institutions, and young people themselves.

Awareness alone cannot change behaviour unless it is backed by opportunity, security, and trust in public institutions.

Conclusion

India’s journey toward eliminating child marriage illustrates the limits of legal and policy commitments when they are not matched by social transformation. The decline in national averages is encouraging, but averages conceal deep inequalities. Achieving the 2030 target will require confronting uncomfortable realities about poverty, gender norms, and governance failures.

Ending child marriage is not merely about preventing early weddings; it is about expanding choices, dignity, and life chances for millions of girls. Only when national resolve is translated into local empowerment can India truly fulfil its promise — not just to meet an international target, but to secure justice and equality for its next generation.