The government has decided to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years, bringing it at par with that of men.Experts, however, have raised concern over the decision, saying the move is akin to treating symptoms instead of the underlying causes.
The Union Cabinet had on Wednesday cleared a proposal to bring in uniformity in the marriageable age of men and women, sources said on Thursday.The government is likely to bring a bill in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, they said.The proposed bill may also seek to make consequential changes to various personal laws relating to marriage of different communities to ensure a uniform marriage age, the sources said.As of now, the legal age of women to get married is 18 while that for men is 21 years.
The decision came a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government was deliberating on what should be the minimum age for marriage of women.The decision is based on the recommendation of a four-member task force led by former Samata Party chief Jaya Jaitly.
The other members in the panel include V K Paul, member (health) NITI Aayog; secretaries of higher education, school education, health, women and child development, legislative department apart from academicians Najma Akhtar, Vasudha Kamat and Dipti Shah.
