Legal age for women to get married may be revised- says Indian Government

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An announcement has been made stating that the Indian government may revise the legal age of marriage for women in India from 18 years to 21 years. This announcement was made in the Budget speech for the year 2020-21. In 1978 the legal age of marriage was increased from 15 years to 18 years as per the amendment to the Sharda Act, 1929, and since that day the legal age has been 18 years. This announcement has been made with regard to the deteriorating health of women due to early motherhood.

The decision regarding legal age will be taken after looking into all the things related to early marriage and pregnancy which includes mortality rate and health of the mother and her child.

The Hon'ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi further announced that the Centre has set up a committee for reconsideration of legal age while addressing the nation on 74th Independence Day. The committee set up is the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development which set up a task force for examining important matters such as motherhood, lower Maternal Mortality Ratio, and nutritional levels of women. The legal age will be decided on the basis of medical well-being and nutritional status of women, infant, during pregnancy, birth, and thereafter.

Other parameters such as Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Total Fertility Rate (TFR), etc. will also be looked into as possible for increasing the legal age from 18 years to 21 years.

The main reason for having the concept of a minimum age of marriage is the permanent abolishment of social evils like child marriage and minors' abuse. Child marriages aren't illegal but they are declared void if the minor requests for the same. 

Many religions have personal laws related to marriage which are very different from each other. Among Hindus, the legal age for marriage for a woman is 18 and for a man, it is 21. In Islam, a minor can marry if she has attained puberty and this marriage is valid. The Special Marriage Act 1954 and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 have the same legal age for marriage as Hindu Marriage Act 1956.

The Indian Government has made this announcement for revision of the legal age of marriage for women to prevent early pregnancy which has become the bane of existence. Early pregnancy affects the health of the mother and child. This has led to increasing deaths among women and infants. Though there are many laws for minimum age and criminalization of minor abuse, child marriages are still prevalent in India and have been included in the customs followed in some parts of India. 

Therefore it is high time that a progressive decision is made to curb these issues otherwise it will be too late to save the women of this country.





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