Parents in the Sri Sathya Sai district on Monday (December 15, 2025) publicly pledged to refrain from arranging underage marriages for their daughters. The pledge was taken during an event held at the PGRS meeting hall in the Collectorate, as part of the “Child Marriage Free India – 100 Days Programme.”District Collector A. Shyam Prasad, who administered the pledge, appreciated them for voluntarily submitting written bonds to affirm their commitment to safeguard their daughters’ education, aspirations, and future. “Child marriages are not only a punishable offence under law but also irreversibly harm the physical, emotional, and social well-being of girls,” the Collector said.The Collector instructed the officials to extensively organise awareness campaigns across schools, junior colleges, and degree colleges to educate students, parents, and communities about the adverse impact of child marriage on society and the legal provisions against it. Underlining the importance of collective responsibility, Mr. Shyam Prasad urged all stakeholders to work together to transform the Sathya Sai district into a child-marriage-free district.Joint Collector M. Mourya Bharadwaj and senior officials from the revenue, police, ICDS, and Medical and Health Departments were present.Published - December 15, 2025 07:31 pm IST