A month-long awareness campaign against child marriage in Telangana reached over 22.17 lakh people across 4,800 villages before concluding on March 8, International Women’s Day.

The ‘Bal Vivah Mukti Rath’, a campaign on wheels organised by Just Rights for Children as part of the government of India’s ‘100 Days Intensive Campaign to End Child Marriage’, travelled 48,728 kilometres across the State to spread awareness about the need to eliminate child marriage.

The campaign saw vehicles travelling through villages, schools, gram sabhas, religious institutions and historical sites, organising 31,209 events including rallies, nukkad nataks, pledge ceremonies, cultural programmes and survivor-led interactions. More than 5,363 schools and colleges and 3,898 religious places were covered, with participation from 5,38,518 students and teachers as well as 4,208 faith leaders.

According to government data for 2019-21, the prevalence of child marriage in Telangana stands at 23.5%, slightly higher than the national average of 23.3%.

Across the country, more than 500 Bal Vivah Mukti Rath vehicles travelled through 66,344 villages, covering 6,79,077 kilometres and reaching over 5.22 crore people in 28 States. The vehicles were flagged off by several political leaders and administrators, including two chief ministers, 49 state ministers, 82 MPs and 154 MLAs, along with 99 district collectors or magistrates.

Jyoti Mathur, senior adviser (Policy) at Just Rights for Children, said the campaign symbolised a collective commitment to ensure stronger protection for children. “We are confident that India will become free from the crime of child marriage well before the global deadline of 2030,” she added.

The organisation asserted that through coordinated efforts involving its partners, local administrations, law enforcement agencies and community leaders, it had helped stop 10,518 child marriages in Telangana over the past year.