Policy Proposal to Increase

the Marriageable Age of

Girls to 21 Years

Submitted By:
Kahuwa Sarma
1st Year, B. A. LL.B. (Hons.)
Chanakya National Law University
 Introduction
Recently, the government suggested increasing the legal marriage age for women from 18 to
21 years. As of now, the minimum legal age for women to marry is 18 years, while for males
it is 21 years. In the Lok Sabha, a bill to formalise such a legislative change was introduced.
1
However, following criticism from opposition parties who claimed that the measure violated
various personal laws and basic rights, it was referred to a Parliamentary Commission for
additional review. According to the bill, the new minimum marital age for women would take
precedence over all personal laws, raising the legal age of marriage for all females regardless
of faith.

Marriages in India are given a lot of attention and deliberation; nonetheless, society and its
authoritative norms have hindered individuals, particularly women, from forming their own
say about their ambitions, pretensions, and the age at which they desire to marry. The legal age
to marry in the country was 21 years until 1823, after which it was changed to 14 for boys and
12 for girls to be in consonance with the prevailing social norms of those times.2 There were
several barbaric social practices such as female infanticide, sati, polygamy, child marriage, and
others. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 established the minimum marriage age for
girls at 14 and males at 18. This was challenged by the Muslims, following which the Muslim
Personal rule (Shariat) Application Act of 1937 came in, which laid down no minimum age
limit and permitted guardian’s consent in Muslim marriages. 3

During this historical period, females were married off between the ages of 10 and 12 years on
an average. After independence, the legal age of marriage was raised to 18 years for females
and 21 years for boys in 1978. 4The Indian government’s proposal to raise the minimum legal
age for women to marry from 18 to 21 years was justified as being able to empower women
and reduce gender disparities through such an amendment.

The Introduction of the Bill

In June 2020, the Ministry of Women and Child Development formed a committee led by Jaya
Jaitley to investigate the relationship between the duration of marriage and concerns of
women's nutrition, child mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, and other difficulties. 5
Following the disquisition, they presented data indicating that the marriage age should be raised
to 21.

1
“Increase in Minimum Age of Marriage for Women to 21 years two years after Bill is notified: Centre”, The
Hindu (15 March 2023)
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/increase-in-minimum-age-of-marriage-for-women-to-21-years-two-
years-after-bill-is-notified-centre/article66622738.ece
Last Visited on: 11th June 2023.
2
“Child Marriage Prohibition Act”, India Filings (10 Jan 2023)
https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/prohibition-of-child-marriage-act/
Last Visited on: 11th June 2023.
3
Id.
4
Id.
5
Supra n 1 at 1.
Another factor to examine is gender equality. Section 4(c) of the Special Marriage Act
proclaims the legal marriageable age for women to be 18 while it is 21 for males, however this
bracket provides no plausible defence or explanation.6 The voting age is the same as the age to
willingly consent to engage into a sexual connection and enter into a contract, and in light of
this, the age to enter into a life bond should also be the same. The Supreme Court too ruled in
the case Independent Study v. Union Of India that it is critical that the age of marriage of men
and women be rendered impartial.

On December 21 2021, the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Correction) Bill, 2021 was
introduced in the Lok Sabha. The bill amends the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006 to
raise the minimum marriage age for women. Along with raising the minimum age of marriage
for women from 18 to 21, the Bill also provides for the cancellation of child marriage until the
age of 23 instead of 20, and for the implicit Act's provisions to take precedence over any other
law, custom, use, or practise governing the parties to the marriage, according to the Bill.

The Opposition to the Bill

In India, child marriage was previously decreasing. According to NFHS- 5,23.3 women polled
married before reaching the legal marriage age of 18, a decrease from 26.8 reported in NFHS-
4. Underage marriage rates among men are 17.7 (NFHS- 5) and 20.3 (NFHS- 4).7

This increase in marriage age is intended to result from increasing access to education, skilling,
healthcare, and jobs. When females are educated and become financially independent, there is
a shift in their social status and there emerges a willingness to invest in them and postpone their
weddings. These variables were shown to naturally raise the age of marriage. The government’s
efforts on enacting policy changes would act like an attempt to criminalise people.

On the reality, the current law governing child marriage, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,
2006, is largely ineffective. Since 1978, the minimum age for girls to marry has been set at 18.
Despite the fact that child marriage rates in India have been steadily declining, the country
continues to have the highest absolute number of child marriages in the world - despite the
existence of the Prevention of Child Marriages Act (PCMA), 1978 and 2006. 8

6
“Bill to raise marriage age of women seeks to override laws across faith, sent to Panel”, The Indian Express
(22 Dec 2021)
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/bill-to-increase-marriage-age-of-women-to-21-yrs-to-be-sent-to-house-
panel-smriti-irani-7684161/
Last Visited on: 11th June 2023.
7
“The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021”, Ministry of Women and Child Development
https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-prohibition-of-child-marriage-amendment-bill-
2021#:~:text=As%20per%20the%201929%20Act,and%2021%20years%20for%20men.
Last Visited on: 11th June 2021.
8
Id.
In 2018, just 501 cases were reserved under the PCMA Act, despite data indicating that one in
every four women in India is still married before the age of 18. 9 Clearly, the enforcement of
the laws are inefficient and problematic.

At the grassroots level, it is shown that the PCMA is predominantly employed by parents of
girls to facilitate arranged weddings. Young people who desire to marry for personal reasons
with personal choices are criminalised just for exercising their right to do so. Due to the
widespread acceptance of such social norms in society, the PCMA is not being used extensively
and properly to prevent situations of compelled or coerced early marriages. While the existing
rule is not strictly enforced, raising the marriage age to 21 will exacerbate the challenges and
disadvantage of young people - the very individuals it is intended to protect.

While the Committee under Jaya Jaitley aims to investigate the variables that contribute to
malnourishment and anaemia in mothers, nonetheless, research indicates that the age of
marriage plays minimal role in the factor driving women's poor health in comparison to
poverty, which is the most important factor governing the poor health of young maters. Poverty
also causes malnutrition, anaemia, and a lack of access to health care, all of which are
detrimental to the health of mothers. Thus, free and accessible healthcare is required to improve
maternal nutrition and health outcomes in access to nutrition.

It has been demonstrated that focusing on positive and enabling measures to improve a girl's
quality of life, like education, employment, poverty relief, has considerably more influence on
postponing her marriage, thus the government should focus on those instead. 10

The practise of child marriage is the result of deeply ingrained societal ideals. Society believes
that marrying off girls at a young age lowers the cost of dowry and protects them from sexual
abuse. Marriage and chastity are inextricably linked to several aspects of dignity and family
honour.

Girls are also viewed as financial liabilities who must be married off at a young age. Investing
in higher education for girls is considered as a waste of money, and remedial legislation will
not eliminate these societal morals. In reality, such a step is likely to encourage underground
marriages, which will be carried out in secrecy. Despite the fact that PCMA criminalises them,
child marriages continue to enjoy societal approval.

Raising the minimum marriage age will transform women's families into perpetrators,
disproportionately affecting the poorer parts of society, namely Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi
women. More access to education and job opportunities result in a fundamental transformation
in girls' morals and behaviours, as well as the capacity of the society to invest in them and

9
Id.
10
Maheshwari Arjun, “18 or 21? Analysis of Legal Age of Marriage of Women in India”, Legal Service India
https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-9261-18-or-21-analysis-of-legal-age-of-marriage-of-women-in-
india.html
Last Visited on: 11th June 2023.
postpone their weddings. In order to achieve behavioural change, it is critical to confront these
social conventions at their source.

Proponents of the Bill

The effort to raise the marriage age is a step towards gender equality because it would make
the legal marriage age equal for both men and women, which is in accordance with Article 14
of the Indian Constitution. Moving forward, society operates on a paternalistic social
framework, and many young females are pushed to quit their ambitions and jobs just for the
purpose of getting married. One of the primary goals of this legislative amendment is to provide
more opportunities for females to pursue their education. As a result, more women are expected
to pursue additional education, obtain careers, and achieve financial independence in their
lives. 11

Similarly, this measure may put an end to the historical practise of underage marriage, in which
girls aged 14 to 15 are married off after being depicted as 18. According to the most recent
figures, 23.3 percent of women in the country are married off before the age of 18. Data show
that whereas the academy powerhouse rate of females in classes 1 to 5 and 6 to 8 is only 1.2
and 2.6 independently, respectively, the rate of girls in classes 9 to 10 is 15.1. 12

A significant benefit of raising the minimum marriage age to 21 is that a woman will be in a
better mental, physical, and financial position to stand up to pressure or maltreatment from her
family for getting married early or against her will. Teenage pregnancy is typically
accompanied by a significant risk of difficulties during gestation and delivery, causing
problems for both the mother and the child. As a result, raising the legal marriage age will assist
to reduce maternal mortality while also improving women's internal health. This step will aid
in the resolution of societal concerns while also promoting to the economy of the country. The
working population ranges from 15 to 49 years old, accounting for the great majority of the
Indian population. Nonetheless, the country's patriarchal culture prohibits it from creating GDP
in proportion to its working population. Women will now have an equal opportunity for higher
education, work, and making their own life decisions, as well as becoming fiscally independent,
which will contribute to lucrative growth.

Conclusion
The government of India has taken a bold step by wanting to gradually increase the minimum
age for women to marry. In addition to resolving the country's social challenges, the measure
will help the economy grow.

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's 2019 report, the
average age of marriage for women has climbed to 22.1 years, which is far older than the

11
Supra n 10 at 4.
12
Supra n 7 at 3.
current minimum legal age and the bone that's recommended. 13 Civic women are older on
average than pastoral women. It can be said that this transition is not just voluntary, but also
because of an increase in money and educational opportunities. Proper enterprise that aids in
completing access to education and work must accompany legal rectification for change to be
reflected in society.

Legislation alone is, however, insufficient to effect change. The end result is empowering
young girls, pushing them to get educated and gain economic autonomy, and conducting
awareness programmes on the negative consequences of child marriages. The government
should provide education and healthcare facilities to ensure that a girl's right to live the life she
wants is respected and protected. The government should also aim to rigorously apply this
policy change for the benefits to reflect in society, rather than simply passing this legislation
and anticipating a change in demographics.

13
Supra n 7 at 3.