Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat at two: 12.47 crore reached, observance November 27

India's national campaign against child marriage, Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat, will complete two years with a National Observance on Friday, 27 November 2026, according to a backgrounder released by the Press Information Bureau in the first week of November. In those two years the campaign has held 6.85 lakh awareness programmes, reached 12.47 crore participants and registered 42.01 lakh pledges against child marriage, according to reports of the note. The observance is meant to review progress, recognise people working at the grassroots, share what states and Union Territories have learned, and renew the commitment to prevention.

Child marriage is decided inside families, which is why the campaign has tried to reach the people who shape those decisions: schools and teachers, religious institutions, those who provide marriage services, and village and ward bodies. Its design reflects a simple idea: a marriage is harder to arrange when every person whose help is needed has pledged not to give it.

For families, the law is clear. Under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, a woman must be 18 and a man 21 to marry, and the Act provides penalties for those who break it. The Child Marriage Prohibition Officers are the officials responsible for preventing such marriages on the ground, and the portal gives families and neighbours a direct way to report a planned one.

The two-year observance is also a test of the campaign's interim target. The government set itself the aim of cutting child-marriage prevalence by 10% by 2026. The reports of the November note give activity figures, such as programmes held and people reached, rather than a new national prevalence figure, so whether the interim target has been met is not yet clear from official numbers.

Peepals calculation: Earlier government figures allow the campaign's growth to be traced. A February 2026 PIB release counted more than 6 crore citizens reached and more than 28 lakh pledges; by 9 March 2026 the figures were over 11.81 crore and more than 40 lakh. The two-year count of 12.47 crore participants is about 0.66 crore (66 lakh) more than the March figure, and 42.01 lakh pledges is about 2 lakh more. In other words, the figures show the biggest jump between February and March 2026, during the intensive 100-day drive, and much slower growth since. Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: States, districts and Child Marriage Prohibition Officers will present their work at the National Observance on 27 November, and grassroots workers are to be recognised.

Long-term: The campaign has four years left to meet its 2030 goal. Its focus on schools, religious institutions, marriage service providers and local bodies is meant to make prevention part of everyday community life rather than a matter for the police alone.

Who is affected: Girls and boys at risk of early marriage and their families; teachers, religious institutions and marriage service providers; panchayat and ward members; and the officers responsible for enforcing the law.

What to watch next: The National Observance on Friday, 27 November 2026, and any updated prevalence figures released with it.

Questions and Answers