Union minister for women and child development Smriti Irani on Tuesday said the government recommended the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, in the Lok Sabha be sent to a standing committee. The amended bill proposes to increase the age of marriage of women from 18 to 21 years.
Introducing the amendment bill in the lower House of Parliament, Irani earlier said, “I would like to present that women equality in our country needs to be seen in (terms of) age of marriage. Invoking different marriage laws of different faiths, I rise to introduce the amendment bill.”
However, opposition leaders, including Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, Trinamool Congress’ Saugata Roy raised their objections to the bill.
Chowdhury said the government did not consult any of the stakeholders before introducing the amendment and suggested the bill be sent to the standing committee.
Stating that this is the second or third time that the government is aggressively bringing in a bill without consulting the opposition, NCP MP Supriya Sule the former is not even sticking to the business advisory council.
