The government pleads that the minimum age for women is being increased in a bid to empower women in the country on the recommendations of the NITIAayog task force headed by Jaya Jaitley.
But many NGOs and demography experts differ on the proposal pleading that the raised age bar for women would give rise to a large number of illegal marriages mainly in UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madya Pradesh, which can further lead to various social complications. The poverty and low level of literacy and nutrition are already acting as major stumbling blocks in these poor performing states, they opine.
The experts say that India is already a home to over estimated 223 million child brides with nearly half of them marrying before they are 15, as per data by UNICEF. More than 50 per cent of underaged brides live in UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Madya Pradesh.
If the age is increased to 21 years, the number of such brides may go up, so more impetus should be given to Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao movement, they say.
Moreover, the Legal experts say that the Centre has to go miles before it can give legal shape to the proposal. The government needs to amend the Special Marriage Act 1954 and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 that prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men in India.
According to the proposal, the Government has constituted a task force of NITIAayog headed by Jaya Jaitley with a mandate to examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood imperatives, lowering the maternal mortality rate, improvement of nutrition level and related issues.
The task force has submitted its recommendations to the Government recently suggesting raising minimum age level for women to 21.
This move would bring the legal age of marriage for women at par with man which is 21 years in a bid to empower women. The task force was set up in June 2020.
The early marriages give birth to larger families as compared to women who marry later in life.
In India, it is estimated that one in four rural women are married before 18 years of age. Better education of girl child and better nutritional level and increased awareness about the advantages of smaller family need to be promoted in the states performing bad in literacy and education and health, the experts say.
