Prohibition of Child Marriage

 Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021

The Bill named as ‘Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021’ is

an amendment to the ‘Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006’ which also

replaced the ‘Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929’. It talks about raising the

legal age of marriage for girls from 18 years to 21 years which will also bring

them at par with the legal age of marriage for boys set at 21 years. Also, it will

have an overriding effect on all the provisions and sections mentioned under the

personal law such as:

a) Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872

b) Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936

c) The Muslim Personal Law Application Act, 1937

d) The Special Marriage Act, 1954

e) The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955

f) Foreign Marriage Act, 1969

Whatever it is mentioned above, does not provide for any uniform minimum

age of marriage for both men and women. This was basically introduced in

the Lok Sabha on the recommendations of the Niti Aayog Task Force. Now,

it has been sent to the Standing Committee after attaining the majority in the

House for further revision. If it will pass that phase also, then it will be

passed on to the President for the assent. After 2 years from the date of the

Bill receives assent, the amendments made regarding the change in

marriageable age will be made effective. It will be done as to provide

sufficient opportunities and surrounding to made it effective.

The idea presented behind this Bill is that it will fulfill our international

obligations mentioned under the 1962 Convention on ‘Consent to marriage’.

Further, it was also said that Educated and Progressive people are following this

nowadays. It has become a trend where boys and girls who are doing work in

order to gain financial independence don’t want early marriages. They want to

live life on their own terms and conditions which obviously does not include

getting settled at an very early age.

In the above case, it can be rightly concluded that these people live in urban

areas and don’t have any problem regarding this as their parents are

understanding and supportive. But amidst all this, we forget about the girls

belonging to rural areas or remote villages. Majority of people who live there

are not that progressive in terms of education and thinking. They are deprived of

education and that is why also lacks the ability to make decision. They consider

their own daughters as a liability and as seen from a human aspect, getting rid of

the liability as early as possible is appreciated. Due to this reason, they marry

their girls as soon as she turns 18 without giving due knowledge that it may

affect her life ahead. The only thing which then they have to do is produce

babies, take care of them, take care of the husband, take care of the in-laws, take

care of the household and so on. Their life only revolves around this only.

Apart from all these things, if a girl is married at an early age and made

pregnant, there are a lot of health issues involved. With increasing the

marriageable age, the girl’s reproductive health will also get better. Therefore,

increasing the marriageable for girls should be seen in a good light as it has

benefits only.