• Child marriage is defined by the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, as involving people under the age of 18 for girls and 21 for boys. 

• Underage marriages continue in India despite this rule, frequently masquerading as custom.

• The India Child Protection, an organisation working towards child rights protection, has analysed the Census and National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data to quantify the extent of the problem of child marriage in India.

• According to the 2011 census, on average, 1,621,257 girls who are under the age of 18 get married each year. 

• This means that 4,442 girls get married every day, 185 girls get married every hour, and three girls get married every minute.

• In India, 23.3% of women (20-24) were married before turning 18, as per NFHS- 5.

• Another effect of child marriage is infant mortality, which is 45 per 1,000 live births for mothers under the age of 20 and 33 for mothers between the ages of 20 and 29 (2019–2021, NFHS-5).

• The goal of the national initiative Child Marriage Free India (CMFI) is to reach the tipping point for the abolition of child marriage by 2030.

• CMFI is presently working in areas where child marriage is most prevalent through grassroots partner organizations. 

• The organization's goal is to raise awareness about the issue by sensitizing the public and taking legal action to end child marriage in 31,150 villages.

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