New Delhi: A year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced during his Independence Day address, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday passed a resolution raising the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years. According to the English newspaper The Indian Express, sources said that after the cabinet’s approval, the government will introduce an amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and consequently bring amendments in personal laws such as the Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The approvals given on Wednesday are based on the recommendations submitted to NITI Aayog by the Centre’s task force headed by Jaya Jaitley in December 2020, constituted to set up ‘Age of Motherhood-related Matters, Need to Reduce Maternal Mortality Rate, Improving Nutrition’ To investigate the matters related to
According to the newspaper, Jaitley said, ‘I want to clarify that our reasoning behind the recommendation was never that of population control. Recent data released by NFHS 5 (National Family Health Survey) has already indicated that the total fertility rate is declining and the population is under control. Behind this idea is the idea of empowerment of women.
Total Fertility Rate of 2.0 for the first time in India
According to NFHS 5 data, India achieved a total fertility rate of 2.0 for the first time, which is below the replacement level of TFR at 2.1. This shows that population explosion is unlikely in the coming years. The data also showed that child marriages have come down marginally from 27 percent in 2015-16 to 23 percent in 2019-21. Jaitley, a former Samata Party president, said the task force’s recommendation came “after extensive consultation with experts and more importantly after discussions with young adults, especially young women as the decision directly affects them”.
Jaitley said, “We have received responses from 16 universities and more than 15 NGOs have been roped in to reach out to the youth. Feedback was taken from rural and marginalized communities and all religions and urban and rural areas alike. We got feedback from young adults that the age of marriage should be 22-23 years. There have been objections from some quarters, but we realized that they were instructed to do so by some groups.
What is the recommendation?
The task force constituted in June 2020 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development also included Dr. VK Paul of NITI Aayog and Secretaries of WCD, Health and Education Ministries, and Legislative Department. It recommended that a massive public awareness campaign be launched to encourage social acceptance of the decision. It has also sought access to schools and universities for girls, including transport in the case of educational institutions in remote areas.
The committee has further recommended that sex education be formalized and included in the school curriculum. It has also been recommended to enhance the training, skill and vocational training, and livelihood of women in polytechnic institutions to ensure that the increase in marriageable age is implemented. The recommendation states that ‘if girls show that they are financially independent, parents will think twice before marrying them early’.
Section 5 (iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 prescribes a minimum age of 18 years for the bride and 21 years for the groom. The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively.
