Cabinet clears proposal to raise minimum age for marriage of women from 18 to 21

A bride holds flowers with her hands decorated with henna paste during her wedding ceremony in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. [Representative Image: REUTERS/Amit Dave]

The Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal raising the legal age of marriage for women from 18 years to 21 years, bringing it at par with that of men, media reports have said.

The cabinet’s nod on December 15 came more than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the plan in his 2020 Independence Day speech.

At present, the legal age of marriage for girls is 18.

The move is in accordance with the recommendations made to Niti Aayog in December 2020 by a government task force headed by Jaya Jaitly. The committee was to examine “matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering MMR (maternal mortality rate), improvement of nutritional levels and related issues”, a report in the Indian Express said.

The government will now look to introduce amendments to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, Special Marriage Act and other personal laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, among other legislations, report said.

Jaitly told Indian the Express that the idea of deferring the legal marriage age of women was rooted not in population control but in women empowerment.

The recommendations were derived after extensive consultations with experts, young women and individuals, with the task force comprising secretaries of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, health and education and legislative departments, the report said.

The feedback the task force got from 16 universities and 15 NGOs, which engaged with young adults directly impacted by this decision, was that the marriage age should range between 22 and 23 years.

"Recent data released by National Family Health Survey (NHFS) 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 was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

The task force also recommended a comprehensive public awareness campaign, access to schools and universities for girls, formalised sex education in school curriculum along with training and livelihood enhancement practices in institutions.

Setting the stage for the task force, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her 2020-21 budget speech, “As India progresses further, opportunities open up for women to pursue higher education and careers. The entire issue about the age of a girl entering motherhood needs to be seen in this light.”