Tanvi Pilane
Published on: March 22, 2022 12:31 IST
A Three-month Extension was granted to the Standing Committee examining the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 by Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu on Monday.
The Bill which was tabled by Smriti Irani, Women and Child Development Minister aims to raise the legal Age of Marriage of women in the country to 21 years from the present 18 years.
The Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports Affairs was supposed to present its report in the Current Session of the House, by March 24.
The extension was granted at the request of Committee Chairman Vinay Sahasrabuddhe. The Report will now be submitted by the Committee on June 24.
The proposed amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act, 2006 is to extend to all communities, irrespective of religion.
Personal laws of various religions that deal with marriage have their own standards, often reflecting custom.
Several population and family planning experts and child and Women’s Rights Activists in the Country have not been in favor of increasing the age of marriage for women on the basis that such a legislation would push a large portion of the population into illegal marriages.
They argued that child marriages continue in India even with the legal age of marriage for women being 18 years and that a decrease in such marriages has been not because of the existing law, but an increase in girl’s education and employment opportunities.
Another contention was that the law would particularly impact marginalized communities such as the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and end up being coercive.
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