New Delhi: An year after PM Modi announced his plan to raise the minimum age of marriage for women, the Union cabinet in winter session of parliament held on wednesday approves the bill, which says women need to be 21 years old to marry, not 18. The proposal carried recommendations by a task force set by the Centre to examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering MMR (Maternal Mortality Rate), improvement of nutritional levels and related issues.The recommendations come after extensive consultations with experts, and more importantly with young adults, especially young women as the decision affects them directly. As per the reports submitted by The Indian Express, Jaya Jaitly head of the Task force said that the move was to empower women and not control population as data released by NFHS 5 (National Family Health Survey) has already shown that the Total Fertility Rate is decreasing and the population is under control. She further emphasised that the task force has done a survey in 16 universities and engaged over 15 NGOs to reach out to young people, particularly in rural and marginalised communities, such as in particular districts in Rajasthan where child marriage is quite prevalent, and the response was positive.Earlier, section 5(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 set 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 for the groom. The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribed 18 and 21 years as the minimum age for women and men to marry, respectively.The government is planning to implement changes to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act, and the Hindu Marriage Act to expedite the proposal.Source: News18
