The Prohibition of Child Marriage(Amendment) Bill, 2021 seeks to increase the marriage age of women to ___ years.

21

- The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 seeks to increase the minimum marital age for girls from 18 to 21 years, to bring it at par with that for men.

- The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2021. 

- The Bill amends the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 to increase the minimum age of marriage of females.

- Key Issues and Analysis

• The minimum age of marriage at 21 years is higher than the minimum age of majority (18 years).  The Supreme Court has ruled that marriage between adults is a fundamental right.   The question is whether prohibiting marriage for persons between 18 and 21 years is a reasonable restriction on their right to marry. 
   
• About a quarter of 20-24 year old women are married before the age of 18 years, despite that being the minimum age of marriage since 1978.  The limited success of the current law raises the question whether an increase in minimum age would have any significant impact on reducing the incidence of child marriage