Days after Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said his government was contemplating increasing the marriage age of women to 21 years, a government committee has been set up to explore the aspect.
On December 8, an official statement said that as per the direction of the Chief Minister, a committee to examine an increase in the marriage age of girls in Himachal Pradesh has been formed and, in this regard, a notification has been issued on December 6.
M. Sudha Devi, the Social Justice and Empowerment secretary will be the committee’s Chairperson. Besides, Priyatu Mandal (Rural Development Secretary), Sharad Kumar Lagwal (Law Secretary), Manasi Sahay Thakur (Director of Labour and employment), and Pratibha Chauhan (Chief of Bureau of The Tribune newspaper) will be members of the committee. Priyanka Verma, the Managing Director of the National Health Mission will be Member Secretary of the committee, said the statement.
Earlier, Mr. Sukhu said the government was exploring legal options to implement the proposal surrounding increasing the marriage age of women to 21 years.
