New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the government will soon take a decision on revising the minimum age of marriage for girls after it receives a report from the committee set up for this.
The Prime Minister said the girls’ gross enrolment ratio in education has turned higher than that of boys for the first time in the country because of several efforts taken by the government in the last six years.
Modi also highlighted that the government has constructed 11 crore toilets across the country under the Swachh Bharat Mission , and is also providing sanitary pads at Re 1 to poor women. “Because of these efforts, for the first time, the gross enrolment ratio of girls in education is more than that of boys,” he remarked
Modi was addressing a video conference for releasing a commemorative coin of Rs 75 denomination on the 75th anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
“There is an important deliberation going on to decide what should be the ideal age of marriage for daughters,” Modi said. The Prime Minister said he has been receiving letters from women from across the country, asking about the report of the committee and when the government will take a decision on it.
“I want to assure them, the government will soon take its decision after the submission of the report,” Modi said. In his Independence Day speech, the Prime Minister had earlier announced that government was deliberating on what should be the minimum age of marriage for women and has set up a committee to look into the same.
Currently, the minimum age of marriage is 18 years for women and 21 for men.