While a section sees this as a progressive step to empower women with a “choice”, there are voices of concern that the move has the potential to result in increased criminalisation of poor families who may be forced by circumstances to choose to marry girls above 18 years but below 21 even after the age is enhanced. They cite poverty and lack of access to quality health and education as bigger challenges that need to be tackled to address problems like underage marriage and malnutrition.
Supporting the proposed legislation, Ranjana Kumari from Centre for Social Research said, “Many girls will be able to complete their education up to graduation and employability will increase, decrease in maternal mortality as well as infant mortality and reduction in child marriage”. She, however, added that “it will be the responsibility of the government to make it acceptable as a social norm”.
Opposing the decision, human rights activist and co-founder of HAQ: Centre for Child Rights, Enakshi Ganguly said, “Penal laws don’t create social change.” She too shared fears that if the age of marriage amendments come along then there is a greater risk of more adolescents and young people getting criminalised.
Young Lives India country director Renu Singh supported the decision, pointing that their interventions and research has shows that “there is a significant difference in the psychological well-being of (child brides and those who got married at age 21, with the latter showing much higher scores than child brides. There is a significant difference in mean wages of child brides and those getting married after 21 years of age,” she said.
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