Child marriage curb: Maharashtra considering a rule mandating birth dates on wedding cards

Maharashtra is considering printing bride and groom's birth date on wedding invites to prevent child marriages as a rule, said Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkar on Wednesday.

Maharastra will look at ways to bring down illegal practices and incidences of child marriages in the state to under 10 percent in the next 5 years, Tatkare said so while answering questions of BJP Member Atil Bhatkhalkar in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

According to her Maharashtra has asked Rajasthan government to see into their process to put both the dates of birth of the bride and the groom in the wedding cards and then decide if that could be applicable here in Maharashtra with the collaboration of law and judiciary and rural development department.


Read More: 5 dead, several injured as under-construction roof of temple collapses in Maharashtra's Parbhani

In Maharashtra, The child marriage rates were down to 19.6 percent in the year 2023-24 as compared to 21.9 percent in the year 2019-21. The national average is around 20.1 percent for this year in the latest survey, Tatkare pointed.

In 2025-26 alone, authorities have successfully intervened in 1,434 child marriages and have 136 FIRs. In 2024-25, we have 1,495 child marriages that have been stopped and 1253 in 2023-24 and 108 FIRs have been registered.

In the year 2022-23, 930 child marriages were prevented and 81 FIRs were registered. The minister further shared, the figures for 2021-22 is 831 child marriages being prevented and this number was 519 in the year 2020-21, 240 in the year 2019-20 and the lowest is 147 in 2018-19 when 10 FIRs were lodged.

She further stressed that the increase in the number of child marriages being stopped should not be interpreted as an increase in child marriages. It indicates improved detection, reporting and intervention by government machinery.

She shared that government is ensuring not just the family members of the child are taken action against but even priests and the ones who knowingly are a part of such schemes to curb such ceremonies. She added that the house that district action forces headed by collectors, village protection committees and committees at the taluka and gram panchayat levels are actively working to curb child marriages and are being further strengthened.

Read More: Fadnavis proposes creation of special rail freight corridor to link ports with Samruddhi Expressway

The government is all set to identify 6 districts where child marriages are happening predominantly, Beed and some areas in Marathwada have reported cases due to the seasonal migration of labourers to places like sugar-cane farms, where families migrate for sugarcane-cutting work. To deal with this problem the government plans focused outreach among migrant labourers and expansion of facilities such as child care centres and residential homes to ensure children remain in safe environments during migration periods, Tatkare said.

Bhatkhalkar, during the discussion also sought details of action taken against persons involved in child marriages and questioned the timeline of the state's request to Rajasthan regarding its model for checking child marriages.

He also pointed at the seriousness of the issue in districts like Beed, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Parbhani, and demanded district- wise details of child marriages prevented through government interventions.