New Delhi: Vice President, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has granted another extension to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports examining the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021, which proposes to raise the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21.
‘Hon’ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha, has granted a further extension of time for a period of three months with effect from 24th October 2022 to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports for examination and presentation of Report on ‘The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021’, a statement from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat read. This is the second such extension given to the Committee after it got its first extension in mid-March 2022 for three months. This Committee recently saw a new Chairman also being appointed. The earlier chairman Vinay Sahasrabuddhe retired from Rajya Sabha and was replaced by BJP MP Vivek Thakur, in the recent rejig of the Standing Committees.
The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha during the last Winter Session. The Government referred it to a Standing Committee for Parliamentary Scrutiny soon after its introduction. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports which was to submit its report in the last Monsoon Session could not do so because the Committee did not have a Chairman after Vinay Sahasrabuddhe’s retirement.
The much spoken of ‘The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021′ proposes to raise the age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21 years. More lady MPs have now been added to this Committee during its reconstitution. Earlier the only lady member on this panel voiced TMC member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha Sushmita Deb. Now the panel also has DMK Rajya Sabha MP Dr Kanimozhi NVN Somu, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sangeeta Yadav and Congress Lok Sabha MP Pratibha Singh.
The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021’ proposes to amend ‘The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA)’ for making the age of marriage equal to 21 years for both males and females, which is presently 21 years for males and 18 years for females and consequential amendments in laws relating to the age of marriage i.e. ‘the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872’; ‘the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936’; ‘the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937’; ‘the Special Marriage Act, 1954’; ‘the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955’; and ‘the Foreign Marriage Act, 1969’. Also the laws namely ‘the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956’; and ‘Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956’ pertain to this context.
The Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy (particularly the Right to Equality and the Right against Exploitation) under the Constitution of India guarantee gender equality. The proposed legislation is a strong measure towards the commitment of the Government for the same as it will bring women on equal footing with males. There are imperatives for lowering the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and improvements in nutrition levels as well as an increase in Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB). These are the main reasons for effecting the proposed legislation.
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