Cabinet clears proposal to raise marriage age for women from 18 to 21 years

New Delhi, Dec 16: The proposal to raise the minimum age of marriage for women from 18to 21 years has been cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. Last ear Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the plan is under review.

In his Independence Day speech, the PM had said that the government is concerned about the health of the daughters and sisters. To save them from malnutrition it is necessary that they get married at the right age.

The government would make changes to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act before getting its plan into action. Currently the minimum age of marriage for men is 21 and and for women it is 18 years.

To examine this, a task force had been set up. Dr. V K Paul, senior officials of the Health Ministry, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Law Ministry were part of this panel. The task force had submitted the proposal in December and said that a woman must be at least 21 years old at the time of her first pregnancy.