Stories
India's Marriage Age: Why 21 for Boys, 18 for Girls? Unpacking the Sharda Act's Legacy.
- •India's legal marriage age is 21 for boys and 18 for girls, a standard that evolved significantly over time.
- •The Sharda Act (Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929) was enacted in British India to curb child marriage, initially setting the minimum age at 14 for girls and 18 for boys.
- •Harbilas Sharda, an educationist and judge from Ajmer, spearheaded the efforts to pass this landmark legislation, which became popularly known as the 'Sharda Act'.
- •In 1978, the Sharda Act was amended, raising the minimum marriage age to 18 for girls and 21 for boys.
- •The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, replaced the Sharda Act, making child marriage a cognizable and non-bailable offense with stricter penalties.
Key Questions Answered
The Sharda Act, officially known as the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, was a law passed in British India to curb child marriage. It was created to combat horrific social problems such as high maternal and child mortality rates, lack of education, and early widowhood caused by child marriages.
The historic law was primarily enacted due to the efforts of Harbilas Sharda, an educationist, judge, and politician from Ajmer who introduced the anti-child marriage bill in the Central Assembly in 1927. Social reformers like Sarojini Naidu and Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy also heavily supported its creation.
The current legal minimum age for marriage in India is 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys, following amendments made to the original Act in 1978.
