Context: The task force set up to take a re-look at the age of marriage for women has submitted its report to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

• Women’s rights activists have opposed the suggestion of raising the age of marriage from 18 to 21 for women.
• They have cited evidence to show that such a move may be used to incarcerate young adults marrying without the consent of their parents.
• They suggest that instead of taking coercive steps, the government must ensure access to education and employment for women, which will help delay the age at which they get married.
• It is also widely believed among policy watchers that the “age of marriage” issue is a subterfuge for controlling population growth, while the NFHS-5 data shows that India’s population is stabilising.

Maternal mortality rates, nutrition levels

• Finance Minister in her Budget speech last year proposed a panel on the “age of a girl entering motherhood” to lower maternal mortality rates and improve nutrition levels.
• But when the decision to appoint a task force was announced, its terms of reference included examining “the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood” with health and nutritional status of mothers and infants.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/task-force-on-age-of-marriage-for-women-submitted-report-to-pmo/article33601834.ece

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