Raising the age bar

The ground for raising the legal minimum age of marriage for women had been already laid and the Center has just cleared the air around it. The Prime Minister had announced during his Independence Day speech the previous year that a decision in this regard could be made. Following the speech, a four-member task force was set up, which recommended the raising of marriage age for women from 18 years to 21 years. The basic argument of the panel was centered around the concept of equality. The panel is also known to have considered the impact of early marriage on the health of the woman and their children. Sadly, the report has not been made public. The report would certainly have been of great significance for policy experts to reflect upon the matter. Child marriage is a deep-rooted evil with multiple ramifications. It not only has the potential to shake the foundations of the health and education sector, but it also creates cross-generational problems. While the need to curb child marriage is of utmost importance, the process has to be scientific and based on deductive reasoning. A straight-jacketed approach might prove to be inefficient. As per the latest NFHS, one out of every four women in India get married before reaching the age of 18 years. Such a huge proportion exists despite the fact that Indian Parliament had instituted the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006 some 15 years back. The recently proposed changes will be incorporated within the parent law through an amendment. While the status of prohibition of child marriage has improved over the past decades, it still continues to be far below satisfactory levels. It would be interesting to see how the new amendments, once introduced, will bring about a positive impact. A major loophole in the original act has been that it doesn't reverse the marriage, and at best, it can punish the adults involved in the crime — that too when the minor takes a legal route. Since the proposed amendment is mostly related to increasing the age of marriage than to nullify the marriage, not much change can be expected. In achieving the sought-after uniformity in the age of marriage, the Central government will likely face other hurdles relating to differential legal frameworks for various personal law boards as well. The government has already shown its intent towards parallelly amending the personal laws. While the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1972 prescribe the minimum marriage for a boy to be 21 years, and a girl to be 18 years, the Muslim personal law allows marriage after the attainment of puberty. It will be a challenging task for the government to bring in sync all these legal variations. The greater problem however is lack of unanimity on the issue. There have been telling divergences between two different segments of experts and among political parties. While some have welcomed the move, others have enumerated its negative fallouts. On the positive side, the new changes are said to allow access to equal opportunity to the women in terms of health, education and well-being. The initial years of adulthood is a critical phase for the personal development of an individual. It is in this age group that a large number of girls, particularly in rural areas, are forced to drop out from schools and colleges. Raising the age bar will also improve the familial conditions of the poor households — it is a well-known fact that a large number of rural families across India start apprehending about the marriage of girls from the time of their birth itself. Also, timely marriage is linked with the dignity of the family — which it would retain at any cost, even if it has to lose its land and property! Marriage is a social institution in large parts of India, it isn't yet a private affair. Playing with the numbers in terms of the minimum age of marriage largely ignores this complex institution of marriage. Rooting out the evil of child marriage demands in-depth understanding of the institution, followed up with effective education and communication campaigns, without which any legislation will stand the risk of being toyed with. Some experts have even pointed out that raising the age bar will only exacerbate the child marriage figures, also leading to its greater acceptance. To substantiate this argument, it can be said that until the prevailing mindset and the social conditions of the masses undergo a change, they will proceed with the evil of child marriage. And the marriage will continue to be a 'success' until the minority decides to take the legal route. It is a question to be pondered upon as to what are the chances of the minor — loaded with societal burdens and expectations — raising its voice! That voice needs to be made stronger through encouragement and education. That appears to be the only treatment for this deep malaise.