Government of Bihar

Background

The NFHS-5 data show that about 23.3% of women aged 20-24 got married before the legal marriageable age of 18 for women in India. However, in Bihar, it is much above the national prevalence that is 40.8 per cent of women (between the ages of 20 – 24 years ever married) are married before the legal minimum age[1]. The below figure shows the decline in child marriages over the years. Expectedly, the prevalence is higher in rural than urban Bihar (27.9 % in urban areas and 43.4 in rural areas as per NFHS 5).

One of the alarming consequences of child marriages is early childbearing. As per NFHS-5, about 11.0 per cent of women aged 15-19 years in the State were already mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey, which is much higher than the national average of 6.8 per cent. The practice is more prevalent in rural areas (11.6%) than in urban areas (7.4%), and as per the NFHS-5 survey also declined over the years

To combat the menace of child marriage, the Government of Bihar has implemented several critical legal and administrative measures:

1. State-Specific Regulations: In 2010, the state government issued the Bihar State Prohibition of Child Marriage Rules, providing a localized legal framework to enforce the law effectively.
2. Administrative Oversight: In accordance with the directives of the National Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, the state notified and appointed Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs). These officers are stationed throughout the state to monitor, prevent, and report illegal underage marriages.
3. Details of CMPOs: In Bihar Sub-divisional Officers (SDO) are nominated as Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) and Block Development Officer (BDO) is nominated as Assistant Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (ACMPOs). Bihar has altogether 635 CMPOs and ACMPOs and additionally, 38 CDPOs have been nominated to support the CMPOs.

Key programmes:

1. Baal Viavh evam Dahej Mukt Humara Bihar Campaign- Launched by the Hon’ble Chief Minister on 2nd October 2017, the state-wide 'Baal Vivah evam Dahej Mukt Humara Bihar' campaign featured significant stakeholder participation. Mass-scale community engagement activities were conducted during the launch to catalyse social change and public discourse
2. Formation of Taskforces: A sperate task force was formed for tackling the issue of ECM and Dowry in the state. The task force was formed from District to subdivision to block lastly to panchayats across the state. In the state meeting were held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary.
3. Human Chain: On 21st January 2018, under the leadership of the Hon’ble Chief Minister, the state government galvanised its entire politico-administrative machinery to form the world's longest human chain to demonstrate public support and solidarity for campaign against child marriage and dowry. Hordes of people, including children, elderly people, housewives, students, officials, workers and people from all walks of life participated to form a 14000 km long chain across the state, ranging from busy national and state highways to rural roads and narrow by lanes of villages. School students, mainly girls, shouted slogans opposing child marriage and dowry. The programme was recorded by 40 drone cameras with live telecast to connect more people. A movie prepared on the occasion was later shown in 127 cinema halls across the state.
4. Collaboration with Bihar Mahadalit Vikas Mission- Bihar Mahadalit Vikas Mission collaborated to form adolescent groups in Mahadalit hamlets (most marginalized) of the state. For this approx. 9400 Vikas Mitras across the state were trained on the laws and regulation of Child Marriage and dowry and formation and nurturing of adolescent groups. In each panchayat of Bihar 4 adolescent groups (3 girls and 1 boys) were formed
5. Ending Child Marriage Program in 13 districts- For further strengthen the ending child marriage initiative, a program was launched in 13 high burden districts (districts having prevalence of child marriage more than 50% as per the NFHS -4)
6. Udaan programme – In collaboration with UNICEF, WCDC implemented Udaan programme in 22 districts of Bihar on the issue of ending child marriage and adolescent empowerment
7. Trainings- Trainings of officials of line department was conducted on ending child marriage, around 15000 people are oriented from Dec 2017 which continued till date. UNICEF and WCDC organised a Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop for officials from all 38 districts. Trainings of officials and Front-line functionaries from different departments were conducted, which include SDOs, BDOs, DWO, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) who also serve as nodal officer for Women and Child related issues in the Police Department, Railway Superintendent of Police, district project managers under WDC , CDPOs, DPO (ICDS), Assistant Director Child Protection , Vikas Mitras , Child Care Institution functionaries, teachers, Paralegal Volunteers etc.

State Schemes for Girls:

1. Mukhya Mantri Kanya Utthan Yojana- Launched in 2018, this scheme utilizes a conditional cash transfer model to provide Rs 94,100 to girls in an incremental manner. A primary objective of this initiative is to eliminate child marriage by incentivizing the girl’s continued education and development.
2. Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana–This scheme has significantly helped girl’s enrolment, retention and transition to higher classes with greater confidence and mobility. The enhanced educational status amongst girls coupled with women empowerment and effective implementation of the social protection measures
3. Kanya Vivah Yojana- This scheme provides financial support to girls from low-income families (with an annual income of less than Rs 60,000) at the time of their marriage. To qualify, the beneficiary must have completed at least the 10th standard. The scheme aims to promote marriage registration and serve as a deterrent against child marriage.
4. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalay- To advance education among girls from marginalized communities, the state operates these residential schools. They provide a safe and supportive learning environment designed to bridge the gender and social gaps in literacy.
5. Mukhya Mantri Medhavriti Yojana- This scheme provides merit-based scholarships to students from SC and ST communities to encourage higher education and prevent early marriage. The incentives are structured as follows:

Policy Developed:

1. State Action Plan on Ending Child Marriage
2. State Guideline on creating child marriage free panchayat
3. As a compliance with the decision taken in the meeting, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was developed for the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer and the Assistant Child Marriage Prohibition Officer.
4. In addition to this Letter to DMs was sent on 29th April with formats for Faith leaders, band party owners, marriage hall owners, caterers and parents / guardians. These are:
   • Format -1: Declaration form to display stating that faith leaders do not solemnize child marriage.
   • Format -2: All faith leaders to check and keep records of all marriages solemnized by them.
   • Format -3 Declaration form to display stating that band party owners, marriage hall owners and caterers do not provide services in child marriage.
   • Format -4 All band party owners, marriage hall owners and caterers to keep record of all marriages where they have provided their services.
   • Format-5 Parents/Guardians to submit a declaration that they are not conducting child marriage of their wards

Working together:

Recognizing that the effort to end child marriage and dowry requires a collaborative efforts and approaches which are multi-pronged in nature, WDC, GoB is working in close partnership with the Development Partners (DP), the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Faith based Organizations and media while working in close alliance with all key government departments supporting the voices of change at the state, district and up to village levels. An interface and engagement with community influencers, elders and elected representatives will be critical in building the high impact and greater reach.