The Centre on Wednesday passed a proposal to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years, matching the norm for men.
The government will introduce an amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, and amendments to the Special Marriage Act and personal laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, according to a report by The Indian Express,
The clearance was based on the recommendations of a Niti Aayog task force led by Jaya Jaitly. The task force was constituted to examine matters involving the age of motherhood, lowering maternal mortality rate, improving nutritional levels and other related issues.
The proposals of the task force include a comprehensive public awareness campaign to encourage social acceptance of the increased marriage age. It also sought access to schools and universities for girls, including transportation in the case of educational institutes in far-off areas, the report said.
Another key element of the task force's recommendations includes formalising and introducing the subject of sex education in the school curriculum.
Additionally, training of women in polytechnic institutes, skills and business training and livelihood enhancement was recommended to ensure that an increase in marriageable age can be implemented.
“I want to make clear that our reasoning behind the recommendation was never one of population control. Recent data released by NFHS 5 (National Family Health Survey) have already shown that the Total Fertility Rate is decreasing and the population is under control. The idea behind it (the recommendation) is the empowerment of women,” Jaitly told the publication.
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