After the approval of the cabinet, the government will amend personal laws like the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 and then the Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act 1955.
The government has taken steps to increase the legal age of marriage for girls in the country. In a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, the Modi government approved a proposal to raise the legal age of marriage for women to 21 years. The legal age of marriage for men in the country is 21 years. PM Modi had hinted about this in his Independence Day address a year ago. Now the government seems to be implementing it.
The government will amend the laws related to marriage,
The Indian Express report quoted sources are saying that after the cabinet’s approval, the government would amend personal laws like the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 and then the Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act 1955. The report quoted sources are saying that the Jaya Jaitley-led task force submitted its recommendations to the NITI Aayog in December 2020. Based on these recommendations, the cabinet has approved this proposal. This task force was set up to ‘examine matters related to the age of motherhood, need to reduce maternal mortality, improve nutrition.
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Recommendations are not aimed at controlling population: Jaitley,
In a conversation with the newspaper, Jaitley said, ‘I want to make it clear that the purpose of our recommendations is not to control the population. The latest data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 5) shows that the total fertility rate (TFR) has come down, and the population is under control. The real motive behind raising the age of marriage for girls is to empower women.
Fertility rate down
In November last, the Union Health Ministry released the data for the second phase of the National Family Welfare Survey-5 (NHFS-5). The report recorded a decline in the fertility rate in the country. It has come down from 2.2 to two. India’s TFR was 2.7 during the National Family Health Survey-3 in 2005-06, which came down to 2.2 in 2015-16. The fall in TFR indicates that population explosion is not going to happen in the country shortly.
