Bill to raise marriage age for women to 21 years sent to Standing committee

The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that seeks to raise the marriage age for women from 18 to 21 years was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 21, 2021. The lower house voted to send the bill to a standing committee for further scrutiny after protests from opposition parties. 

The bill seeks to raise the legal marriageable age of women from 18 years to 21 years and bring it at par with men. The opposition parties raised protest on the manner in which the bill was included in the legislative agenda at the last minute and urged that it should be sent to a standing committee. 

The bill was introduced by Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani. The Minister while presenting the bill said, “The age of marriage should be uniformly applicable to all religions, caste, creed, over-riding any custom or law that seeks to discriminate against women." The Minister said that the bill also seeks to override all existing laws, including any custom, usage or practice governing the parties in relation to marriage.

The Union Minister herself urged the chair to refer the bill to a parliamentary panel for detailed scrutiny amid opposition protests. The Lok Sabha then voted to send the bill to the parliamentary panel. The panel will present its recommendations before the Parliament after examining the bill. 

Prohibition of Child Marriage Amendment Bill, 2021: Know 5 key points 

1. The bill seeks to increase the marriageable age of women to 21 years to secure gender equality in the marriage age of women and men. The bill states that “Women are often put in a disadvantageous position in regard to higher education, vocational instruction, attainment of psychological maturity and skill-sets. The increase in the marriage age of women is also expected to lower maternal and infant mortality rates and improve nutrition and sex ratio.

2. The bill includes a grace period of two years from the date it receives presidential assent.

3. The amendment bill also seeks to alter the definition of "child" to "mean a male or female who has not completed 21 years of age". 

4. It seeks to amend seven personal laws – Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act and the Foreign Marriage Act, Indian Christian Marriage Act, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act and the Special Marriage Act.

5. It bill also prohibits child marriage, irrespective of any law, custom, usage or practice governing the parties. The bill declares that the provisions of the Act shall have an overriding effect over every other law, custom, usage or practice governing the parties. 

Why is the bill being criticised?

Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen protested against the bill saying that an 18-year-old can vote but can’t get married. He also questioned the centre's beti bachao programme. 

Union Minister Smriti Irani countered the objections saying that the amendment will give equality to men and women in matrimony. She said that their research shows that 21 lakh child marriages had to be stopped and many underage girls were found pregnant.

Background 

The Union Cabinet on December 15, 2021 approval the bill proposing to raise women's legal marriage age from 18 to 21 years after reviewing a proposal from a special committee headed by Jaya Jaitly. The committee had been set up in June 2020 to examine various matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, lowering Maternal Mortality rates, improving nutritional and other related issues. The committee submitted its recommendations after holding extensive consultations with experts and young adults, especially young women.

Read more: Cabinet approves proposal to raise legal marriage age of women from 18 to 21 years