Government Mulls To Revise Women’s Legal Age For Marriage

New Delhi : The Centre has set-up a committee to assess what should be the age of marriage to end malnutrition among girls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

The government is considering to revise upward the legal age of marriage for girls which is currently 18 years.

Earlier, it was increased from 15 to 18 in 1978 as an amendment to the Sharda Act of 1929. Since 1978, the minimum legal age for marriage has been 18 for women and 21 for men.

Now, the Centre has set-up a task force which will re-examine the matters related to motherhood and marriage at an early age. This includes the mortality rates and medical well-being of the mother and child.