On Wednesday, the cabinet cleared a proposal to raise the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21. The Prime Minister, from the ramparts of Red Fort, last year had announced that the government had formed a committee to deliberate on issues of malnutrition and assured that a decision on marriage would be taken soon.

       The cabinet clearance is yet to be implemented as law. But once it takes effect and is implemented, it would push the effective marriage of nearly a third of women who are married each year. As per the 2018 SRS data, while the effective marriage age was over 21 for ...