INTRODUCTION
In the state of Chhattisgarh, Balod District, through collective action, has reported child-free marriages in India[1], creating history and marking a revolution. This milestone comes after the launch of the government-led Child Marriages Free India campaign (CMFI) along with UNICEF in 2024. Child marriage refers to the marriage of either party before completing the age of 18 years. According to the National Family Health Survey-5[2], over one in five girls is getting married below legal age, and one in six boys is getting married below legal age. Child marriage stands as one of the leading issues in India, though steps being taken still a large number of cases are being reported each year of child marriage. Penalization of child marriage has reduced the numbers, but has not reached a state where this can be eradicated from the country. However, in the midst of all this, Balod district stands as a leading example for all states to take strict measures to ensure a child marriage-free India, and this marks a shift to reformative change in society.
URGENCY OF THE CAMPAIGN
Historically high rates of child marriage in India are mostly due to poverty, lack of awareness, family issues, economic distress, etc. The traditional thinking of society is commonly rooted in marrying daughters early due to social pressure or the ease of financial burden. This cause is high among rural and tribal regions, where the highest percentage of child marriage is noted. It became the priority of the government to launch an initiative to tackle this problem, where they executed a child marriage-free India campaign with the vision of achieving this by 2030. This demonstrates that the campaign brought together the working of states, urban, district, and panchayat levels to coordinate efficiently to ensure the success of the program in their state.
Unlike many districts where awareness campaigns remain symbolic, Balod took accountability at the grassroots — from anganwadis to district-level officers — ensuring a living model of cooperative federalism. This approach unified all the levels in a state to lead the initiative, where the Balod district of Chhattisgarh stood strong, and was recorded as the First child marriage-free district in India. Chhattisgarh, which earlier recorded the highest percentage of child marriage, is now a frontrunner example of unity, grassroots work, and collective efforts to succeed. This proves that coordination among panchayats, aanganwadi workers, and youth groups can produce commendable results.
STEPS TAKEN: HOW BALOD BECAME CHILD-MARRIAGE FREE
The success of the Balod district has been possible with the help of various calculated steps taken by different groups. It does come overnight; people have worked tirelessly to make the district child marriage-free. First and foremost, each gram panchayat formed a Village Child Protection Committee (VCPC) and included sarpanches, ASHA workers, school teachers, etc. They raised awareness in the society through street plays and meetings with the rural people. They educated them on the harms and legal consequences of child marriage and the criminalization of the same under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006[3], where anyone performing this will be punished with 2 years of imprisonment. They also revived Bal Mitra Groups to report child marriages happening in their locality.
The conducted door-to-door counseling sessions, educating them on the legal age of marriage, also helped them prepare data on all the girls below the age of 18 years who are school dropouts and have high chances of getting married. They even supported the economically weak families through government schemes like Kanya Vivah Yojana[4] to ease the financial burden and prevent the marriages of their daughters.
Not only this, various departments worked together, like Health, Women and Children, and Police, to ensure the prevention of marriage. They tracked adolescent pregnancies as an early warning system to detect marriage. The administration made marriage registration mandatory to check the age of couples. Awareness campaigns were also held during local festivals to engage the maximum crowd through folk songs, posters, banners, etc. A 24*7 helpline was set up to report child marriages or for children to seek help who were being forced into early marriage. Local priests were sensitized not to perform rituals in cases of child marriage. Partnership with UNICEF, local NGOs to facilitate workshops for parents to teach about child marriage. This also provided them with technical support for monitoring and collecting data. All this was done at ground level to ensure that the elimination of child marriage happens smoothly. This changed the mindset of society into believing in the harms of early marriage and the importance of education to children, and led to the success of the campaign.
IMPACT AND CHANGES MADE
Following this, a significant decrease in school dropout rates and increased attendance among girls were reported. Families were now more inclined to marry their children after the legal age. The local mindset had greatly changed with the help of ASHA, anganwadi workers, teachers, and youth groups. After a visible social change, a proper survey was conducted for two years, which included verification by UNICEF officials and NGO officials, etc. A multi-layer verification process was done, which checked every home in the district, school enrollment, marriage registry, etc, before the official declaration. A formal report came which declared the Balod district as the first district in India to attain the status of child marriage-free India[5]. The author believes that when states like Rajasthan and Bihar, even after raising awareness, fail to get child marriage-free status, Balod stands strong, leading every district and setting standards for everyone.
GAPS AND LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE
Balod’s achievement is indeed a landmark reform. But the main issue lies in the sustainability of this tag of a child marriage-free district. This demands careful monitoring, vigilance, and consistency to maintain the status it has been given. The key gaps lie in concerns regarding the risk of relapse, especially in rural areas; annual verification steps need to be taken to prevent future risks of early marriage. Most areas lack real-time monitoring of data to practically count the exact data on child marriage.
According to the author, to continue the status of child-free marriages, certain changes need to be incorporated, which are:
- Annual verification at the block level to re-check that economically weak families do not again marry their daughters to reduce the burden.
- Third party to conduct a survey every 2-3 years to maintain the credibility of the tag.
- Empowering panchayats with technical tools to monitor data of each gram
- Regular meetings to discuss further strategy to prevent any mishaps.
- Active engagement of teachers, parents, and youth workers through plays, songs to aware society.
- Proper enforcement of the law to make deterrence among families and a quick report of any child marriage to the police.
The true victory occurs when the status is maintained throughout, and every child understands their rights. The declaration of “child-marriage-free” must not become a symbolic label. Without independent verification, transparent data, and ongoing community engagement, the title risks becoming ceremonial rather than transformative.
CONCLUSION
Balod’s declaration as the first child marriage-free district in India is a historical movement, yet this is not the end of the journey for social transformation. This is just the beginning to protect the rights of children and their future; constant vigilance, awareness, and monitoring are required at every step to gain actual victory. The main challenge is that the progress does not fade but continues to grow in more districts of the state.
Hence, to conclude, as the author firmly believes in the achievement of Balod not to stop at this, but to grow ever more at every stage. This should not be limited to Chhattisgarh but should spread to more states in India to ensure a child-marriage-free India. Balod’s success illustrates that sustainable social reform depends not on laws alone but on how deeply they are ingrained in the community conscience. The challenge now is replication — transforming one district’s triumph into a national movement.
Author(s) Name: Aditi Goyal (Dharmashastra National Law University)
References:
[1] Government of Chhattisgarh, Department of Women and Child Development, Press Release: Balod Declared as India’s First Child Marriage-Free District (Government of Chhattisgarh 2024) <https://wcd.cg.gov.in/> accessed 7 October 2025
[2] Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019–21: India Report (Government of India 2021)
[3] The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 (Act No 6 of 2007, Ministry of Law and Justice)
[4] Government of Chhattisgarh, Kanya Vivah Yojana Guidelines (Department of Women and Child Development 2023) <https://wcd.cg.gov.in/> accessed 7 October 2025
[5] UNICEF India, Balod District Declared India’s First Child Marriage-Free District: A Milestone for Child Rights (UNICEF India 2024) <https://www.unicef.org/india/stories/balod-child-marriage-free-district> accessed 7 October 2025
