The Indian government has cleared a proposal to raise the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21, according to media reports. The decision to raise the age was made during a cabinet meeting, the reports said. Currently, the minimum age of marriage for men is 21 and 18 for women.

Following cabinet approval, the government is likely to introduce an amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, and consequently bring amendments to the Special Marriage Act and personal laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

During Independence Day speech in August last year, the Prime Minister mentioned the proposal, saying the government “is constantly concerned about the health of daughters and sisters. To save the daughters from malnutrition, it is necessary that they are married at the right age.”

Earlier this year, hundreds of girls from the northern state of Haryana, which has one of the lowest gender ratios of females to males among Indian states, had written to the Prime Minister, urging him to raise the marriage age from 18 to 21.

The Finance Minister during her federal budget speech in February last year said the decision was important and will be looked into. “As India progresses further, opportunities open up for women to pursue higher education and careers,” she had said.

“There are imperatives of lowering MMR (maternal mortality rate) as well as improvement of nutrition levels. The entire issue about the age of a girl entering motherhood needs to be seen in this light,” she said as she appointed a task force to look into the matter.

The high-level task force – which had officials from health, law, and women and child development ministries – backed the proposal, recommending that a woman must be at least 21 at the time of her first pregnancy.

According to a 2017 United Nations report, India was struggling to stop child marriages and improve the health of its mothers. The report said as many as 27 percent of Indian girls were married before they turned 18.

“We need to ensure that girls complete their education, they should be into work if they are wanting to work so there is an employment opportunity which they were missing.”

“It is an opportunity but the only issue is that it needs to be properly campaigned and awareness needs to be built in the community and society to accept this as a norm,” she said. “This is the best way to do away with the child marriage.”