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On Wednesday, Union Cabinet passed a proposal to raise the legal marriage age of Indian women from 18 to 21 years old that will be similar to men’s legal marriage age.
The proposal was introduced in December 2020 by Niti Ayog Taskforce headed by Jaya Jaitly. The task force is made to examine the ‘matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, imperative of lowering Maternal Mortality Rate, improvement of nutritional level and other related issues.
This change will require amendment of the Hindu act of marriage 1995, Prohibition of child marriage act 2006, and special marriage act.
“I want to make clear that our reasoning behind the recommendation was never one of population control. Recent data released by NFHS 5 (National Family Health Survey) 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” reported The Indian Express quoting Jaya Jaitly.
According to NFHS 5, the rate of child marriages in India has come down from 26% in 2015-16 to 23% in 2019-21.