“Among the larger states/UTs, the best proportion of females getting married earlier than the age of 18 is noticed in West Bengal (6.3%), adopted by Jharkhand (4.6%); the bottom is noticed in Kerala (0.1%), adopted by Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, recorded at 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively,” the SRS statistical report 2023 made public in September 2025 states.
According to the report, on the nationwide degree, 2.1% of females bought married earlier than the age of 18 years.
Also learn: How is India planning to finish little one marriage? | Explained
In rural areas additionally, West Bengal recorded the best variety of females (5.8 %) who bought married earlier than 18 years of age, adopted by Jharkhand (5.2%). In city areas, West Bengal once more reported the best proportion of females marrying earlier than 18 years (7.6%), adopted by Jammu & Kashmir (3.5%) and Odisha (2.8%).
At the nationwide degree, the share of females who bought married earlier than the age of 18 years in rural areas was 2.5% and in city areas, the figures stood at 1.2% throughout the nation. The highest proportion of females getting married within the age interval 18-20 years was additionally noticed in West Bengal (44.9%), adopted by Jharkhand (41.5%) and the bottom in Jammu & Kashmir (8.4%).
Interestingly, the SRS knowledge which was revealed in May 2025 had additionally put the share of females getting married earlier than the age of 18 years, the best in West Bengal, at (6.5%) whereas for the entire of India the determine was 2.6%.
In the case of rural areas, the share of females getting married earlier than the age of 18 years within the May 2025 SRS report was additionally highest in West Bengal at 6%, and for city areas, the share of girls getting married earlier than the age of 18 years within the State was pegged at 8.2%.
The SRS knowledge revealed in September 2025, nevertheless, signifies a decline when in comparison with knowledge launched in May 2025 within the share of girls getting married beneath the age of 18%, each in West Bengal (from 6.5% to six.3%) and in addition in India (from 2.6 % to 2.1%).
The query which retains baffling coverage makers and consultants in West Bengal is that even after a decade of devoted schemes focusing on elimination of kid marriage, the state information very excessive incidents of kid marriage. The West Bengal authorities had in 2013 launched the Kanyashree Scheme, a conditional money switch program to enhance the standing of women and cut back little one marriage.
Participating in Kanyashree Dibas (Kanyashree Day) celebrations in Kolkata on August 14, 2025 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee mentioned that the variety of beneficiaries within the scheme has crossed 93 lakhs and he or she expressed hope that quickly the beneficiaries will cross one crore. The inhabitants of the state is pegged at 10 crore and about 9.3 % inhabitants is already introduced beneath the ambit of the scheme, in response to Ms. Banerjee.
The Budget tabled by the West Bengal authorities on February 12 ,2025 had identified that in 2024-25, 15.75 lakh women enrolled within the Kanyashree Scheme’s annual scholarship element of ₹1,000/-, and a couple of.01 lakh women for its one-time grant of ₹25,000/-. The State Government has allotted ₹593.51 crore for the scheme within the present monetary yr.
The State Government had additionally allotted ₹11.8 lakh crore for gender-specific schemes within the 2025-26 finances, a 38% rise within the allocation for state-sponsored gender-specific schemes within the final monetary yr. Despite these allocations, the share of girls who’re married earlier than the age of 18 years within the state stays the best within the nation at 6.3%.
Not solely the SRS knowledge, however in 2024 a paper revealed within the worldwide science journal Lancet had famous that regardless of an total lower in little one marriage throughout the nation, 4 States, primarily Bihar (16.7%), West Bengal (15.2%), Uttar Pradesh (12.5%), and Maharashtra (8.2%), accounted for greater than half of the overall headcount burden of kid marriages in women.
The paper titled ‘Prevalence of lady and boy little one marriage throughout States and Union Territories in India, 1993–2021: a repeated cross-sectional examine’ had highlighted that whereas some States have achieved dramatic decreases in prevalence and headcount for little one marriage in women, “different states have struggled, similar to West Bengal”.
