60,000 underage institutional births in Bengal in six months, CM says

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said the state recorded nearly 60,000 institutional deliveries involving underage mothers between January 1 and June 30, 2026. The data, sourced from the state health department, was described by him as alarming and a direct consequence of widespread child marriage.

Addressing media at the state secretariat, Adhikari said West Bengal now leads the country in two troubling indicators: girls married before the age of 18 and deliveries occurring before that age. He noted that the numbers were so high that existing jail capacity would be insufficient to hold all those responsible.

Adhikari invoked the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, stating that the law clearly prohibits marriage of minors. He announced that police action and arrests would follow in such cases.

The health department will issue show-cause notices to offenders, particularly the husbands, who must provide documentary proof within a month that both parties are adults. Failure to do so will result in action by the Director General of Police, Adhikari said. He added that families involved in child marriages would be stripped of benefits under central and state welfare schemes, and that priests or qazis who solemnised such unions, along with other family members, would also face action.

District-wise figures shared by the CM show Murshidabad recorded 12,847 institutional births by underage girls, the highest in the state, followed by South 24 Parganas with 4,178.

West Bengal has consistently reported the highest number of child marriages in recent years. A Sample Registration Survey report from September 2025 found that 6.3% of females in the state married before age 18, against a national average of 2.1%. According to the National Family Health Survey-5, 55.4% of women aged 20-24 in Murshidabad said they were married before turning 18.

Field experts, however, caution that child marriage is a complex issue driven by parental pressure, social norms, elopement, and cases involving minor grooms. They warn that arresting husbands could strain already vulnerable families and negatively affect marital relationships.