Divye Duheta Mahajan Recently Government has decided to raise the legal age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21 years, and bring it par to the men’s age, 21. The decision comes to bring in uniformity in the marriageable age of girls and boys, although it has taken more than 90 years of slow decisive progression to bring in an Act that empowers both the segment of the society to live holistically and equitably. Of course,this applaudable decision comes to mellow down the unending stubbornness of society, which still struggles to fight between western modernization and eastern customs and beliefs. But the idea is, how fast do we need such amendments enacted to support societies to progress and grow unflinchingly? Since 1929, with the passing of the Child Marriage Refrain Act, passed on 28th September, in the Imperial Legislative Council of India, fixing the age of marriage for girls at 14 years and boys at 18 years and its few amendments that followed post that era of independence, India has seen a shift in the positioning of girls from mere a homemaker to a dynamic social activist like Sumaira Abdulai, an environmentalist, to upcoming CEO’s of unicorn start-ups in India of 2021, like Fhaguni Nayar, IIM Ahmedabad Passed out and founder of NYKAA who recently raised $720 million in the company’s IPO.The point that arises here is: has it holistically uplifted girls from all the segments of society? Of course, measurable progress has been seen but there is still a major segment of girls who remain victims of unbending beliefs of their families, conservative societies, and tribes either with or without initial education. The uneven structural segments of society, illiteracy, lack of awareness,and resources do not allow them to exercise the same rules and regulations on all fronts.How exactly the new amendment brings in these segments of girls to create their future is a matter to observe in coming times? Although, at least those of customs of veiling to cover faces and that keeps girls potential subdued has long been declutched in the ambition of many girls who took courage, attained education at par with men, showcased their competencies, and flourished beyond expectations. We now see legislature bringing an amendment that talks about changes that should have been done long ago to support the girls. It is a support system that helps them grow, create their mind out in real, and live a life they all deserve. Imagine how uniformly progressive would have been our girls, society, and Nation on whole till date. The question that arises over here is, do we have a vision as a country or are we running around the bush? Now if we look into another scenario, UNICEF estimates suggest that there are still 1.5 million girls under 18 years getting married in India which makes India home to the child brides in the worldaccounting for a third of a global total. However, the prevalence of girls getting married before age 18 has declined from 47 percent to 27 percent between 2005- 2006 and 2015-2016 it is still too high but due to covid-19, India again seesan unprecedented rise of 20% in girls getting married below the age of 18 years during their initial education. The rise in numbers explicitly states two unseen facts: One, the unchecked latent conservativeness of society that can come to the surface in times of uncertainty. Two, despite rising in literacy and other standards of living, the primitive customs of marrying girls at a nearly age are deeply rooted in minds,and amendments in Child Marriage Refrain Act, 1929 intentionally followed to challenge society and refrain them to pursue their culture. Another question that arises over here is: Is our education system competent enough to counter and restructure the firm cultural structures of society for good of both genders? Also, how do we measure other factors which indirectly influence exercising the Act? Or do we need some facilitatory refinement of already existing systems like, education, skills development, leadership development, etc, to work in a structured manner and bring in a change that is everlasting for society? There is a dire need to peddle multiple verticals of our governance to ride on a vision that embraces all segments of society not just for a short period but for years to come so that we progress on the path of development without lag and collectively uplift each other keeping aside societal and personal prejudice.
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