Jagran Explainer: Why Modi government is pushing for raising legal age of marriage for women to 21

New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The legal age for marriage for Indian women has been put at 18 years of age since late 1970s. The Centre’s recent move to raise legal marriage age for women from 18 to 21 years of age comes with prospects of strengthening the notions of Gender equality in India, since the legal marriage age for men too is 21 years of age.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address in 2020 had said that his government is concerned about the health of daughters and sisters and that “to save the daughters from malnutrition, it is necessary that they are married at the right age”.

Jaya Jaitly Commission’s report on legal marriage age for women

Prior to Prime Minister Modi’s Independence Day address in August 2020, the government had formed a four member committee, headed by former Samata Party chief Jaya Jaitly to deliberate upon raising the legal marriage age for women.

Following the submission of report on legal marriage age of women by Jaya Jaitly Committee, Modi Cabinet on Wednesday passed a proposal to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years of age. Reports have claimed that the government is likely to bring an amendment into the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 in parliament in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. This, if passed in parliament and subsequently assented by President Ramnath Kovind, will formally legislate the legal marriage age for women from 18 to 21.

Can’t leave marriage out of the domains of gender equity, empowerment: Jaya Jaitly

Former Samata Party chief Jaya Jaitley, who headed the four-member committee on raising legal marriage age for women, said that one cannot leave marriage out of the domains of gender equity and gender empowerment in every field. “This is a very odd message that girl can be fit to be married at 18 that cuts away her opportunity to go to college and the man has the opportunity to prepare himself for life and earning up to 21. But these days when girls are capable of doing so much and the main reason why they are married off is because they are not an income earning member of the family but why do we allow them that feeling," Jaya Jaitly told news agency PTI.

What is the need of ‘minimum age of marriage’?

At present, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 prescribes 18-years of age to be minimum age of marriage for women, whereas it’s 21-years of age for men. The law aims to essentially deem child marriages illegal and prevent the abuse of minors.

For Hindus, The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom. In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.

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.

For the new age of marriage to be implemented, these laws are expected to be amended.

The recent report of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) revealed that child marriage has come down marginally from 27 per cent in 2015-16 to 23 per cent in 2019-20 in the country. However, by increasing the minimum age of marriage for women, the government aims to bring it down further.