A CHILD MARRIAGE FREE AKSHAYA TRITIYA: MORE THAN 10,000 CHILD MARRIAGES PREVENTED

Starting on April 1, and ending on Akshaya Tritiya itself on May 10, Just Rights for Children partners across India ramped up their actions to prevent this year’s Akshaya Tritiya becoming the day that ended thousands of childhoods through the crime of child marriage. Through community engagement, including the interventions of village councils (panchayats) 10,250 child marriages were prevented by the partnership.

Akshaya Tritiya, or Akha Teej, is one of the most auspicious days for marriage for Hindus and Jains because of its cultural and religious significance - including child marriage. However, 2024 was different: as a result of Access to Justice partners in Rajasthan gathering ground-level intelligence, a landmark ruling was made by the state’s High Court, creating a domino effect across the country.

Rajasthan High Court intervenes to stop child marriages

Working together under its legal banner ‘Just Rights for Children Alliance’, the JRC partnership and national partner Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) approached the Rajasthan High Court to seek a specific directive to stop child marriages happening in the state before or on the day of the festival. A  list with details of scheduled child marriages was presented to the court, with 46 of the 57 marriages set to take place during the marriage season. Within 36 hours of the filing, the court directed the state government to stop the child marriages, making panchs and sarpanchs (members of village councils) responsible for preventing the crime taking place.  As such, interventions made by panchs and sarpanchs are now seen as legal interventions, which will make a transformational difference in the fight to end child marriage.

National and state government agencies take action to prevent child marriages in advance of Akshaya Tritiya

At the national level, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights issued directions to its officials to stay vigilant during Akshaya Tritiya to prevent any child marriages. The NCPCR also raised awareness across the marriage industry, with a multitude of wedding suppliers engaged in the campaign.

Following the intervention by the Rajasthan High Court, the Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Department, Dholpur District Administration, the Rajasthan Department of Child Rights and the Panchayati Raj Institution Department took responsibility to prevent child marriages. With advocacy from the Access to Justice partnership, government agencies in a further seven states took action:

• Bihar: Women and Child Development Department

• Haryana: Women and Child Development Department

• Jharkhand: Women and Child Development Department, State Commission for Protection of Child Rights  Department, and State Livelihood Promotion Society

• Madhya Pradesh: Panchayati Raj Institutions Department

• Punjab: Integrated Child Development Scheme and Panchayati Raj Institutions Department

• Uttarakhand: Panchayati Raj Institutions Department and Urban Department  

• Uttar Pradesh: UP State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Department