The Parliamentary Standing Committee tasked to study the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021, which proposes to raise the age of marriage for women to 21 from 18 years, held its second meeting on Wednesday.
According to sources, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports headed by BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe met with some of the members of the Task Force appointed by the government in June 2020, which recommended raising the age of marriage to improve the nutritional status of mothers and newborns and curb infant and maternal mortality rates. It was on the basis of this Task Force’s recommendations that the Ministry of Women and Child Development introduced the Bill in Parliament last December, which was referred to the Standing Committee following calls for greater scrutiny from the Opposition parties.
Among those present from the Task Force were its head, former Samata Party leader Jaya Jaitley, NITI Aayog member Vinod Paul and Ahmedabad-based Dr. Dipti Shah. Those present at the meeting said the Standing Committee members received the copy of the Task Force’s report on the age of marriage only “a day or two ago”, necessitating another round of discussion with them.
Access to education
The panel was also told that the issue of raising the age of marriage for women must be accompanied by measures that help delay underage marriages such as access to education, and improving women’s safety.
It is learnt that the parliamentary panel received 95,000 emails out of which 90,000 opposed the Bill.
Congress MP T.N. Prathapan who could not participate in Wednesday’s meeting sent out a letter to Mr. Sahasrabudhe saying that “a hasty legislation may end up creating social confusion” and “it will harm many women in our society.”
He has further asked the Chairman to ensure that before the report is finalised the committee meets all fellow women Parliamentarians from both Houses. The committee has only two women members — Trinamool Congress’s Sushmita Dev and Congress’s Pratibha Singh.
Mr. Prathapan further said, “We need to travel all over the country, irrespective of urban and rural diversities, to meet women, girls — both adolescent and young, parents, activists, researchers on gender issues and other stakeholders. We need to have a first person consultation with them to understand their concerns.” Even religious bodies which had objected to the legislation must be called in, he said.
Not invited for talks
Civil society organisations said they had not yet been invited for consultations by the Standing Committee. “Many of us have sent our submissions. Young people who are part of the Young Voices movement have also written to the committee directly. But the Standing Committee has not even acknowledged the messages we have sent, let alone call us for discussions,” said Kavita Ratna, Director Advocacy, The Concerned for Working Children.
The Standing Committee was assigned the task of studying the Bill in January 2022 and granted three months to do so but it was granted a three-month extension till June 2022.
The Bill has attracted criticism from the civil society, which has demanded that there is a need for improved access to education, skill training and employment opportunities, safety for women and strengthening maternal health services to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates. Many also argue that increasing the legal age at marriage for women will expand the number of marriages deemed underage and render young adults without legal protection.
