Modi government may take a ‘big decision’ to cease child marriage and maternal mortality
Thursday - February 6, 2020 1:54 pm ,
Category : WTN SPECIAL
The minimum age of marriage of girls can be 21 years
Modi government can increase the minimum age of marriage of girls
FEB 06 (WTN) - Child marriage and maternal mortality are still problems in India. Explain that despite strict laws to prevent child marriage, and all kinds of medical facilities to prevent maternal mortality, child marriages are not stopping in the country. In fact, girls are getting married at an early age due to non-stop child marriage, and maternal mortality is also not decreasing due to child marriage. According to the rules, it is illegal to marry a girl under 18 years of age. But child marriages are not stopping after a stringent law is enacted to stop child marriage. In such a situation, the Modi government may increase the minimum age of marriage of girls.
In fact, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her budget speech this year that a task force would be formed to advise on the right age for a woman to become a mother. And if the task force recommended that the minimum age of marriage for girls should be 21 years instead of 18, then the Modi Government can increase the minimum age for girls to 21 years instead of 18 years. Actually, the main purpose of doing this is to reduce maternal mortality.
For your information, let us tell you that an important decision of the Supreme Court is behind the government's efforts to increase the minimum age of marriage of girls. In fact, an important decision of the Supreme Court came in October 2017 and in its decision, the court said that child marriage should be considered completely illegal to protect the girl from marital rape. But the Supreme Court had left it to the government to decide the minimum age for marriage. Maternal mortality in India was quite high due to early marriage and early childbearing after the marriage, but due to the efforts of various governments, now the maternal mortality rate has been reduced significantly compared to earlier and for this reason, in 2019, the maternal mortality rate was 72 per 100,000.
Here, there has been a lot of debate over why boys and girls do not have equality at the minimum age of marriage? In fact, in the year 2018, the Law Commission also said that keeping the minimum age of marriage at 21 years for boys, and 18 years for girls, is not rational. Because the difference in age between husband and wife for marriage promotes the orthodoxy that for marriage the husband should be older in age, and the wife should be younger in age. At the same time, the Law Commission had said that the boy is older in age for marriage and the girl is younger in age; there is no scientific basis for it.
Now, if the government considers these aspects, the minimum age of marriage for girls is 21 years, or then the legal age of becoming a mother is 21 years, then it will increase the number of years a woman has the ability to have children will decrease. Actually, even after the anti-child marriage law, child marriages have not stopped in the country. Here the figures for UNICEF are also quite shocking. According to UNICEF data, 27 percent of girls in India get married before the age of 18, and 7 percent of girls get married before the age of 15.
In a traditional and conservative country like India, marriage has always been a very personal matter. For this reason, none of the intrusive families were liked in the marriages of boys and girls, and for this reason, child marriage practice has been in abundance in states like Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. But during the British, laws were made in India for the first time regarding the age of marriage. At the same time, a new Hindu Marriage Act was enacted in the year 1955. This law was applicable to Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs along with Hindus. According to the Hindu Marriage Act, the minimum age of the boy for marriage was 18 years and the minimum age of the girl was 15 years. Later in the year 2012, its separate Anand Marriage Bill was introduced for Sikhs. At the same time, according to the Parsi Marriage Act, the boy's age should be 18 and the girl's age should be 15 years.
But in the year 1978, the Child Marriage Act was amended, and the minimum age of marriage of a boy was 21 years and the minimum age of marriage of a girl was 18 years decided. Child marriage law applies to all religions including Hindus. Now that the minimum age of marriage of girls in the country can be increased to 21 years instead of 18, so there will be a ban on child marriage, as well as the risk of becoming a mother of girls at a young age will be declined. It should be hoped that soon the Modi government should introduce such a law so that the minimum age of marriage of both boys and girls should be 21 years.
FEB 06 (WTN) - Child marriage and maternal mortality are still problems in India. Explain that despite strict laws to prevent child marriage, and all kinds of medical facilities to prevent maternal mortality, child marriages are not stopping in the country. In fact, girls are getting married at an early age due to non-stop child marriage, and maternal mortality is also not decreasing due to child marriage. According to the rules, it is illegal to marry a girl under 18 years of age. But child marriages are not stopping after a stringent law is enacted to stop child marriage. In such a situation, the Modi government may increase the minimum age of marriage of girls.
In fact, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her budget speech this year that a task force would be formed to advise on the right age for a woman to become a mother. And if the task force recommended that the minimum age of marriage for girls should be 21 years instead of 18, then the Modi Government can increase the minimum age for girls to 21 years instead of 18 years. Actually, the main purpose of doing this is to reduce maternal mortality.
For your information, let us tell you that an important decision of the Supreme Court is behind the government's efforts to increase the minimum age of marriage of girls. In fact, an important decision of the Supreme Court came in October 2017 and in its decision, the court said that child marriage should be considered completely illegal to protect the girl from marital rape. But the Supreme Court had left it to the government to decide the minimum age for marriage. Maternal mortality in India was quite high due to early marriage and early childbearing after the marriage, but due to the efforts of various governments, now the maternal mortality rate has been reduced significantly compared to earlier and for this reason, in 2019, the maternal mortality rate was 72 per 100,000.
Here, there has been a lot of debate over why boys and girls do not have equality at the minimum age of marriage? In fact, in the year 2018, the Law Commission also said that keeping the minimum age of marriage at 21 years for boys, and 18 years for girls, is not rational. Because the difference in age between husband and wife for marriage promotes the orthodoxy that for marriage the husband should be older in age, and the wife should be younger in age. At the same time, the Law Commission had said that the boy is older in age for marriage and the girl is younger in age; there is no scientific basis for it.
Now, if the government considers these aspects, the minimum age of marriage for girls is 21 years, or then the legal age of becoming a mother is 21 years, then it will increase the number of years a woman has the ability to have children will decrease. Actually, even after the anti-child marriage law, child marriages have not stopped in the country. Here the figures for UNICEF are also quite shocking. According to UNICEF data, 27 percent of girls in India get married before the age of 18, and 7 percent of girls get married before the age of 15.
In a traditional and conservative country like India, marriage has always been a very personal matter. For this reason, none of the intrusive families were liked in the marriages of boys and girls, and for this reason, child marriage practice has been in abundance in states like Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. But during the British, laws were made in India for the first time regarding the age of marriage. At the same time, a new Hindu Marriage Act was enacted in the year 1955. This law was applicable to Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs along with Hindus. According to the Hindu Marriage Act, the minimum age of the boy for marriage was 18 years and the minimum age of the girl was 15 years. Later in the year 2012, its separate Anand Marriage Bill was introduced for Sikhs. At the same time, according to the Parsi Marriage Act, the boy's age should be 18 and the girl's age should be 15 years.
But in the year 1978, the Child Marriage Act was amended, and the minimum age of marriage of a boy was 21 years and the minimum age of marriage of a girl was 18 years decided. Child marriage law applies to all religions including Hindus. Now that the minimum age of marriage of girls in the country can be increased to 21 years instead of 18, so there will be a ban on child marriage, as well as the risk of becoming a mother of girls at a young age will be declined. It should be hoped that soon the Modi government should introduce such a law so that the minimum age of marriage of both boys and girls should be 21 years.
