Context: Recently, Union Government has constituted a committee to ensure that the women are married off at the right age. 

• Reports suggest the minimum age of marriage for girls may be raised from 18 at present to 21.

Minimum age of Marriage in India

• The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 prescribe that the minimum age of marriage is 21 years for men and 18 years for women.
• The minimum age of marriage is distinct from the age of majority which is gender-neutral.
• An individual attains the age of majority at 18 as per the Indian Majority Act, 1875.

Prevalence of underage marriage

• Majority of women in India marry after the age of 21.
• The mean age of women at marriage is 22.1 years, and more than 21 in all states.
• As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) about 26.8% of women aged 20-24 were married before adulthood (age 18).

Age of marriage and health

• Preventing early marriage can reduce the maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality ratio.
• The maternal mortality ratio (number of maternal deaths for every 100,000 children born) is 145 at present.
• India’s infant mortality ratio shows that 30 of every 1,000 children born in a year die before the age of one.
• Both these indicators in India are the highest among the BRICS economies.
• Young mothers are more susceptible to anaemia and more than half the women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in India are anaemic.

Data

• Women in the poorest 20% of the population married much younger than their peers from the wealthiest 20%.
• The average age at marriage of women with no schooling was 17.6, considerably lower than that for women educated beyond class 12.
• As per a report of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, almost 40% of girls aged 15-18 do not attend school.
• Nearly 65% of these girls are engaged in non-remunerative work.

Concerns

• The known reasons for early marriage are poverty, limited access to education and economic prospects, and security concerns.
• If the main causes of early marriage are not addressed, a law will not be enough to delay marriage among girls.