UNION Minister of Women and Child Development Annapurna Devi on Thursday said child marriage snatches childhood away from daughters and pushes them towards early maternity and “unimaginable suffering”. She was speaking at the launch of a ‘100-day Intensive Awareness Campaign for a Child Marriage Free Bharat’, where she stressed that the country must adopt “zero tolerance” towards child marriage.

 

The Minister urged States, civil society groups, and community leaders to unite with an “unwavering commitment” to eliminate the practice. She said India had made “historic progress”, but that far more remained to be done. “Even one child marriage is unacceptable for us,” she said. Annapurna Devi traced the journey from the Sarda Act, 1929 to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, noting that the legal framework had become stronger over the decades, yet harmful social norms persisted. “Child marriage is not just a violation of the law.

 

It takes away a daughter’s childhood and pushes her towards early maternity and unimaginable suffering,” she said. She highlighted the improvements due to the Government initiatives such as ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, pointing to rising sex ratios and higher enrolment of girls in secondary and higher education. “Today, our daughters are changing faster than ever before. Whether in sports, defence, mining or space, they are creating new history,” the Minister noted.