Quixplained: Why Centre wants to raise marriage age of women

The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seeks to raise the age of legal marriage for women from 18 to 21, will apply to all communities in the country and, once enacted, will supersede existing marriage and personal laws.

Introduced in Lok Sabha by Smriti Irani, Union Minister for Women and Child Development, the Bill which proposes amendments to the 2006 law was sent to a Parliamentary Standing Committee for further discussion. The amendment proposed to define a child states: ‘(a) “child” means a male or female who has not completed twenty-one years of age’.

Best of Explained

• Why the outstretched hand to DC, why all fingers are crossed in Delhi
• Near Corbett, another tiger success story plays out: 29 more big cats since 2022

Click here for more

Members of the Congress and other Opposition parties opposed the Bill and questioned the “haste” with which it had been brought to the House. While most minority communities have not opposed the raising of the age of marriage, they point out that personal laws have protection under the Constitution.

Why a bill to raise the marriage age What all laws will change Why re-examine marriage age What is the main opposition to the bill What are the other fears around the bill