About our Organization

Chetna Vikas was founded in the year 1985 by a team of young social activists who were actively engaged in the Sampurna Kranti Movement of Loknayak Jayprakash and joined together to form this organization for the consciousness, empowerment and overall development of the disadvantaged section of the society on the values of peace, justice and equity. Vikas is founded on the basis of Gandhian ideology as it pertains to the alleviation of human suffering and injustice and the development of vulnerable people. The concept of SWARAJ and ANTYODAYA are leading values for the organizational strategic plan.

The organization is working on the following issue of Child Marriage, Child Trafficking, Child Labour and Child Sexual Abuse. The organization participated and organized Child Marriage Free India Campaign in Deoghar districts of Jharkhand covering over 250 villages under the project.

The Campaign Activities included:

1. June Action Month – Chetna Vikas conducted the action month with the objective of child protection and prevented 01 child marriages, 01 FIRs got registered. The campaign was conducted in collaboration with Child Welfare Committee and covered by Print media with an outreach of 3819 household cover directly.
2. 16 October 2023 – Child Marriage Free India Campaign Event – The campaign event was conducted in all ten Blocks of Deoghar District and one block of Dumka district covering 579 villages in collaboration with district administration department with notifications issued by district administration departments. The campaign was organized in two districts, 78 schools, 579 villages with an outreach of approx. 72620 people.

 

Background
Child marriage is not just an age-old social evil, but also a heinous crime that robs children of their childhood.  Child marriage is a “crime against children” that violates basic human rights, minor girls are forced to marry and live a life of mental trauma, physical and biological stress, domestic violence including limited access to education and increased vulnerability to domestic violence. The consequences of child marriage are severe and extensive. Some of the specific consequences include: early pregnancies leading to complications and higher rate of maternal mortality and death of infants, malnutrition among both the infant and the mother, increased vulnerability to reproductive health, disruption in girl’s education and thereby reduction in opportunities of her personal and professional development, domestic violence and abuse, limited decision making powers in the household, and mental health issues.

India’s Census 2011 revealed 12 million children were married before attaining the legal age, of which 5.2 million were girls. Globally, child marriage is identified as a crime and a menace that needs to be eliminated. It finds space in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, under target 5.3 of Goal 5 that states elimination of all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation by 2025.

The latest National Family Health Survey (2019-21) shows that although there is a drop in the overall rate of child marriages, from 26.8% in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 4) to 23.3% in NFHS-5, it is still high despite laws, programmes and schemes in place to address the issue.

Child Marriage Free India Campaign

Understanding the seriousness of the issue, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in W.P. Civil 382 of 2013 pronounced that the sexual intercourse committed by the husband upon his wife being under the age of 18 years with or without her consent can be constituted as rape. To address this, the most definitive and audacious commitment to end child marriage was made with the launch of Child Marriage Free India campaign.

Child Marriage Free India (CMFI) is a nationwide campaign led by women leaders and a coalition of more than 160 NGOs spanning more than 300 districts working to eliminate child marriage in India. CMFI is working to attain the tipping point of child marriage, after which the society does not accept this evil practice and that will happen when the prevalence of child marriage is brought down to 5.5% by 2030, from the current national prevalence rate of 23.3%. This is being done by initially targeting 257 high-prevalence districts and gradually focusing on all the districts of the country.

Child marriage results in child rape, resulting in child pregnancy, and in a large number of cases, may lead to child deaths. For decades, we have been losing generations of our children to child marriage. The Child Marriage Free India campaign has received extended support from various Departments and Institutions of over 28 States. So far, across India more than 5 crore people have taken the pledge to end child marriage over the last one year through the efforts of the Child Marriage Free India Campaign.

Know more about the Child Marriage Free India (CMFI) Campaign: https://www.childmarriagefreeindia.org/

 

The Way Forward: PICKET Strategy to End Child Marriage

Addressing the issue of child marriage, requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach of different government departments, institutions, statutory bodies, and civil society organizations.

Tipping Point to end child marriage

WHEN CHILDREN HAVE CHILDREN – TIPPING POINT TO END CHILD MARRIAGE Book authored by Mr Bhuwan Ribhu is an action plan to eliminate child marriage in India by 2030. It looks at the existing data on child marriage and lists 257 districts in India where the issue of child marriage is worst, which means where the occurrence of this evil practice is highest as compared to national numbers.

Tipping Point is the threshold required in an ecosystem needed to tilt the scale of the problem towards a point of no-return. The Tipping Point of Child Marriage is the critical point after which the society does not accept child marriage.

Tipping Point Methodology

The aim of reduction of 60 percent of child marriage is assumed to bring down the incidence of child marriage to 5.5 percent in the next nine years from 2021, from the last available estimates i.e., NFHS-5, till 2030. An additional assumption is that such a focused and elaborate intervention against child marriage would have a ripple effect.

In order to reach the Tipping Point, the Author proposes strategy at national and district level.

1. National Level strategy where Governments, Institutions, statutory bodies, etc. work towards prevention, protection, increased investment, improved prosecution, convergence and use of technology for monitoring
2. District Level strategy is similar to national level strategy but includes district administration, Panchayats, civil society, NGOs, other functionaries, parents and children who work collectively to prevent, report, and take action against child marriage.

Case Study – Preventing Child Marriage

Phuli Kumari (Imaginary name) resided in the house of her maternal uncle (Mama),  in Doomarthar village. On September 5, 2023, she went out for toilet but mysteriously disappeared. Despite extensive searches, she couldn’t be found.

Upon learning of the situation, Chetna Vikas’ associates in the village suggested filing an FIR. Consequently, on September 7, 2023, an FIR was registered at Jasidih police station by his uncle. It was revealed that Phuli had married the same young man with whom she had gone out. The boy was 20 years old.

Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Chetna Vikas’ team advised the police to take action under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. Through phone tracking, the police successfully located the whereabouts of the young couple and brought them back on September 29, 2023.

The girl provided her statement under Section 164, and a medical examination was conducted. She will be produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). On October 30, 2023, the boy was remanded to jail.

This case highlights the critical role that organizations like Chetna Vikas play in preventing child marriages and ensuring the protection of children’s rights. It underscores the importance of timely legal action to safeguard the future of young girls like Phuli Kumari, who are at risk of early marriages.