Parliamentary panel to hear officials on marriage age next week

New Delhi: A Parliamentary Standing Committee will take up the issue of the age of marriage for men and women next week as a bill aimed at bringing uniformity in the matter has lapsed with the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha.

The secretary of the Women and Child Development Ministry (WCD) and representatives of the National Coalition Advocating for Adolescent Concerns (NCAAC) and the Young Voices Campaign will appear before the panel at its November 22 meeting on the proposed changes in the marriage age for children and other women-related legislation.

According to the agenda of the meeting, the panel on education, women, children, youth and sports headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh will also hear the WCD secretary on the functioning of various statutory and autonomous bodies such as the National Commission for Women, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Central Adoption Resource Authority, and the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development.

The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2021 was referred to the standing committee and got several extensions.

The Bill ultimately lapsed with the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha.

Asked about the issue being taken up even as the Bill has lapsed, a senior member of the panel said, "There is no bar on taking up the issue".

The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, aimed to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, to increase the minimum age of marriage of females to 21 years. The Bill, had it been passed, would have overridden any other law, custom, or practice.

Under the 2006 Act, a person married below the minimum age may apply for annulment within two years of attaining majority (that is before 20 years of age). The Bill sought to increase this to five years (that is 23 years of age).

At its November 21 meeting, the panel will discuss the New Education Policy (NEP) and will hear the secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, the Ministry of Education, and representatives of school teacher federations and civil society organisations on NEP's impact on school education.

The secretary will also inform the panel about various schemes like the Samagra Siksha Abhiyan and the functioning of autonomous bodies such as the NCERT, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), and the performance of various schemes implemented by the department.

The National Education Policy of India-2020 replaced the previous National Policy on Education, 1986. Among the key features, it keeps mother tongue as the medium of instruction till Grade five while recommending its continuance till Grade eight and beyond.