NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi earned praise from netizens as talked about the government’s scheme to provide sanitary napkins at Rs 1 during his I-Day speech and announced that the minimum age of marriage for women is being reconsidered.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendra scheme, the prime minister said, the government has started giving away sanitary napkins at `1 to empower women and also to keep their health in check. “In 6,000 Jan Aushadi Kendras, more than five crore sanitary napkins have been provided to women in a short period of time,” he said.
He also announced that the Centre is reconsidering the minimum age of marriage for girls in the country, bringing in focus an exercise that is already in the works. “We have set up a committee to reconsider the minimum age for marriage of girls. The Centre will take a decision after the committee submits its report,” Modi said in his address to the nation on its 74th Independence Day.
Currently, the legal age of marriage for girls is 18. In June, Centre had formed a 10-member task force under politician Jaya Jaitley, to recommend, among other things, whether the legal age of marriage for women could be changed from 18 years.
The constitution of the task force by the Union Women and Child Development ministry followed an announcement by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her budget speech in February.
“Women’s age of marriage was increased from fifteen years to eighteen years in 1978, by amending erstwhile Sharda Act of 1929. As India progresses further, opportunities open up for women to pursue higher education and careers,” she had said.