New Delhi: The Union Cabinet has passed a proposal to raise the legal age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21 years, same as men. According to government sources, the bill will be tabled in Parliament during the current session.

The central government aims to make the age of marriage equal for men and women. In his Independence Day address in 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the age of marriage for girls would be revised.

Section 5(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 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. The new proposal will likely amend the above acts as well according to government sources.

The proposal is based on recommendations by a task force set by the Centre to examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering MMR (Maternal Mortality Rate), improvement of nutritional levels and related issues. The task force was headed Jaya Jaitly, former member of the Samata Party.

Jaya Jaitley, chairperson of the committee, explained that the recommendations were made for the empowerment of women. Restrictions are not intended to control population. The report suggests that there should be a proper awareness of women empowerment in schools and colleges and that sex education should be included in the school curriculum.

The committee recommended that women's access to polytechnics and other skills development institutes be increased and that the age of marriage be raised to implement the intention of marrying after finding a job.

In 1978, the legal age of marriage for girls was raised from 15 to 18 years and of boys from 18 to 21 years in the country. This decision was made by amending Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA) of 1929 or also known as the Sharda Act.