oppn parties The Legal Age Of Marriage For Girls Should Also Be 21 Years

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The Legal Age Of Marriage For Girls Should Also Be 21 Years

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2020-08-17 11:10:25

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

The government is thinking of upwardly revising the legal age of marriage for girls. This is an excellent initiative that was long overdue. Prime Minister Modi hinted about this in his Independence Day address to the nation. He said that the government had set up a committee to review the legal age of marriage for girls and will take suitable steps once the committee submits its report. While Modi suggested that malnutrition among girls was the main reason why the government wanted to increase the age, there are several other reasons for the pressing need to revise the age.

The last time the legal age of marriage for girls was revised was back in 1978 when it was raised from 15 to 18. In the last 42 years, there have been major changes in Indian society and girls have been allowed to do a lot of things that were previously off-limits for them. Opportunities have also opened up for girls, both in education and employment. Consequently, girls have been opting for higher studies and a career instead of rushing into starting a family.

Pressures from society and the immediate family for an early marriage have also decreased - at least in the educated urban society. It is not uncommon to see girls marrying at the age of 25 and above now. Among the poorer sections of society, poverty often forces the parents to arrange an early marriage for their daughters. But that is more dangerous to the girl's health as she might suffer from malnutrition at 18 and if she becomes a mother soon after marriage, she will give birth to an unhealthy child and her own health will also suffer drastically in the absence of proper post-delivery nutrition. Opening up of opportunities, including education, skilling and earning opportunities (so that parents do not consider them a burden) for girls from the poorer sections is of utmost importance.

Then there is the case of gender discrimination. Why have the legal ages of marriage for boys at 21 and for girls at 18? At the bare minimum, both should be the same at 21. Most of the 18-year-old girls, though considered as adults under Indian laws, are not ready for marriage as they have not seen the outside world, having probably led a sheltered and protected life within the family or in a girls-only school. At 18, they are ready only to join college and pursue higher education, which sometimes becomes difficult if the family marries them off taking shelter behind the legal age of marriage.

Hence, it is important to revise the age to 21. That will give the girls time to complete their graduation. It will also give them time to shape their minds to decide what they want to do in life other than run the kitchen and start a family. When they will meet girls and boys of their own age at college or any other course they choose to pursue and imbibe different thoughts and learn of what they can do with their talent and learning, they will be better placed to take independent decisions about their life. That is something we must allow them to do instead of marrying them off when they cross 18 or even earlier. 

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