The Parliamentary Standing Committee tasked to study the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021, which proposes to raise the age of marriage for women to 21 from 18 years, held its second meeting on Wednesday.
According to sources, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports headed by BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe met with some of the members of the Task Force appointed by the government in June 2020, which recommended raising the age of marriage to improve the nutritional status of mothers and newborns and curb infant and maternal mortality rates. It was on the basis of this Task Force’s recommendations that the Ministry of Women and Child Development introduced the Bill in Parliament last December, which was referred to the Standing Committee following calls for greater scrutiny from the Opposition parties.
Among those present from the Task Force were its head, former Samata Party leader Jaya Jaitley, NITI Aayog member Vinod Paul and Ahmedabad-based Dr. Dipti Shah. Those present at the meeting said the Standing Committee members received the copy of the Task Force’s report on the age of marriage only “a day or two ago”, necessitating another round of discussion with them.
