The minimum age for marriage for women right now is 18.
The proposal to raise the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the plan is under review.
Prime Minister Modi, during his Independence Day speech last year, had made a mention of the proposal.
To save the daughters from malnutrition, it is necessary that they're married at the right age," the Prime Minister had said.
Presently, the minimum age of marriage for men is 21 but for women, it is 18.
The government is eyeing changes to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act, and the Hindu Marriage Act to bring the plan into action.
The delay in marriages has a positive financial, social, and health impact on families, society, and children, it said. »