New Delhi, Dec 20 : Around 259 districts in the country, almost one-third of the total 800 districts, have a higher rate of child marriage than the national average, the Parliament was informed on Friday.

In a reply in Lok Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi said as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 1,002 cases were registered in 2022 under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006.

She said the number of cases registered under the PCMA was 501, 525, 785 and 1,050 in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

The Minister said a 'Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat/Child Marriage Free Bharat' portal, an online platform dedicated to supporting the campaign's vision by raising awareness, preventing child marriages, and facilitating the effective reporting of such incidents, has also been launched by the government.

This will act as a centralised platform which can provide information about Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) at the central level, awareness programmes conducted and facilitate reporting of child marriage incidences, she said.

Since the enactment of the PCMA Act, 2006, the prevalence of child marriage has been reduced by half from approximately 47 per cent as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) in 2005-06 to approximately 23.3 per cent during 2019-21 as per NFHS-5.

The Minister noted that a few States have a higher prevalence of child marriage compared to the national average.

"According to the NFHS-5 data, there are around 259 districts in the country where the rate of child marriage is higher than the national average," he said.

Highlighting government efforts to counter child marriages, the Minister said the 'Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat/Child Marriage Free Bharat' portal launched on November 27 this year coincided with a national-level training session for all Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs), for both attending physically and virtually, to enhance their effectiveness in this initiative.

The 'Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat' campaign is one of the most important imperatives to promote education, skilling, enterprise and entrepreneurship among girls and women to realise the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat', she said.

/IANS