Cabinet nod to raise marriage age of women from 18 to 21, govt to bring bill

In a major decision, the Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years.

The minimum age of marriage will now be the same for both men and women.

The Cabinet green signal has come more than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the plan during his Independence Day address of 2020.

Reports quoting sources said that following the Cabinet’s approval, the Government will introduce an amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 in Parliament. The government will then also bring amendments to the Special Marriage Act and personal laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955.

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The raising of the minimum age is based on recommendations submitted to Niti Aayog in December 2020 by the Centre’s task force headed by Jaya Jaitly.

The task force had clarified that its reasoning behind the recommendation was never one of population control, but the empowerment of women.

Women’s age of marriage was increased from 15 years to 18 years in 1978.