Alternative measures rather than tinkering with women’s legal age for marriage is the way forward

The Government may have introduced in the Lok Sabha the Bill to increase the legal minimum marriageable age for women from 18 to 21, a move that met with no little resistance from certain political quarters, but is the Bill really the panacea for the ills plaguing Indian women at home, at work, at the roadside or in society at large? While bringing the legal age of marriage for women on a par with men may be seen as a symbolic step towards gender equality, besides an opportunity for the fair sex to have a larger say in the handling of their life and of the immediate world around them, it remains a moot point whether simply waving a statutory wand would ameliorate their societal conditions. The move emanates from suggestions sent to NITI Aayog last year by the Jaya Jaitly Committee that examined “matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering Maternal Mortality Rate, improvement of nutritional levels and related issues”. It also clears the way for women to become economically independent. The task force pointed out that empowerment of women was its primary aim.

However, the devil’s advocate points out that laws banning underage marriages have been around since donkey’s ears without effecting any significant dent in their numbers, more so in some States than in others. Of course, the Government has a point when it says that delaying marriage will empower women: After all, today’s girls may have become more knowledgeable due to easy access to the internet and media, but it holds equally true that staying indoors and being ‘connected’ has taken a toll on their physical health. No longer do they play in the sun and the soil, which has led to anaemia, vitamin deficiencies and a plethora of other wellness issues. In such a scenario, marrying later is bound to make them healthier and educated with more career choices but for achieving this aim, social awareness is far more important than amending existing laws. After all, the new law takes away the right of a woman to marry at 19 or 20, if she so wanted. It’s better that rather than tinkering with the existing laws and allowing women to marry only after crossing the age of 21, the Government sought to change the societal mindset that cares for the views and aspirations of all women.