Legal Age of Marriage for Women

👉The Union Cabinet has taken a decision to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 year bringing the age of marriage for both men and women at par.

👉Personal laws of various religions that deal with marriage have their own standards, often reflecting custom.

👉The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom.

👉The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men, respectively.

👉In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.

👉In June 2020, the Ministry for Women and Child Development set up a task force headed by Jaya Jaitly along with other members- NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul and secretaries of several ministries.

👉The committee was to look at the feasibility of increasing the age of marriage and its implication on women and child health, as well as how to increase access to education for women.

👉The committee has to recommend a timeline by which the government could roll out the implementation of the policy, as well as the amendments that would need to be made in existing laws.

👉The committee received feedback from young adults from 16 universities across the country.

👉Over 15 NGOs were also engaged to reach out to young adults in far-flung areas and marginalised communities.



#CurrentAffairs2022 #prelims2022 #importantTopics #UPSC #Women #Marriage #Polity

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