10 villages in Tripura’s Sepahijala district records zero child marriages in past six months, awarded ‘Aspiring Child Marriage Free Village’

In a landmark achievement under the flagship initiative Mission Sankalp, ten villages in Tripura's Sepahijala district have been awarded the ‘Aspiring Child Marriage Free’ (Bronze Category) certification for successfully preventing child marriages over the past six months.

Sepahijala, a border district sharing a significant stretch with neighboring Bangladesh, has emerged as a model of grassroots-level action in combating child marriage and teenage pregnancy through proactive governance and community-driven change.

Sepahiajala District Magistrate, Siddharth Shiv Jaiswal said that under the visionary initiative Mission Sankalp, the Sepahijala District Administration is working proactively to eliminate child marriage and teenage pregnancy.

“A crucial component of this initiative is the recognition and incentivization of villages that demonstrate commitment towards creating a Child Marriage Free (CMF) environment”, he said.

Describing the CMF, the DM said that CMF Village Certification Categories in which villages are certified based on a tiered recognition system that reflects the duration for which no underage marriages have been reported.

“Aspiring CMF Village (Bronze Category) in which no child marriage reported in the last 6 months, Rising CMF Village (Silver Category) where no child marriage reported in the last 12 months and model CMF Village (Gold Category)where No child marriage reported in the last 24 months”, he said.

Speaking about the Certification Process Overview, the official explained that the Gram Pradhan submits a certified declaration to the BDO office. Later, the BDO verifies the claim and forwards it to the SDM, who presents the proposal to the Sub-Divisional Task Force. Approved proposals are sent to the District Magistrate within one month, and later the District Level Task Force reviews and certifies eligible villages.

“As part of this initiative, 10 villages have been awarded the 'Aspiring Child Marriage Free (Bronze Category)' certification, acknowledging their efforts in preventing child marriage over the past 6 months”, he told this publication.

The villages are Promod Nagar VC, Jampuijala R.D Block, Doyarampara VC, Jampuijala R.D Block, . Twima VC, Jampuijala R.D Blockm, JK Nagar, Jampuijala R.D Block, East Ratnapur, Jampaijala R.D Block, West Ratnapur, Jampuijala R.D Block,  Ramnagar VC, Charilam R.D Block, Batharmura VC, Charilam R.D Block, Rampadapara VC, Nalchar R.D Block and Padmininagar VC, Nalchar R.D Block

“The District Administration will continue to encourage villages to aspire for higher categories of recognition by maintaining sustained efforts against child marriage. Through community engagement, awareness, and strict monitoring, Mission Sankalp envisions a Sepahijala where every village is a safe and supportive environment for children and adolescents”, he added.