Review Bill on raising marriage age of women

• IAS NEXT, Lucknow
• 23, Dec 2021

Reference News-

Lok Sabha has sent the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which seeks to raise the age of marriage for women to 21 to a standing committee.

Rationale behind the legislation:

The age of marriage should be uniformly applicable to all religions, caste, creed, overriding any custom or law that seeks to discriminate against women.

The Bill would also amend:

1. The Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1972.
2. The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936.
3. The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937.
4. The Special Marriage Act, 1954.
5. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
6. The Foreign Marriage Act, 1956.

To know more about the Bill, its key provisions, significance and concerns, refer to this article covered by us recently.

What are Parliamentary Committees?

A parliamentary committee is a “committee which is appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the Speaker and which works under the direction of the Speaker and presents its report to the House or to the Speaker and the Secretariat”.

• Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds – Standing Committees and ad hoc Committees. The former are elected or appointed every year or periodically and their work goes on, more or less, on a continuous basis. The latter are appointed on an ad hoc basis as need arises and they cease to exist as soon as they complete the task assigned to them.

Constitutional Provisions:

Parliamentary committees draw their authority from Article 105 (on privileges of Parliament members) and Article 118 (on Parliament’s authority to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business).

Composition of Departmentally-related standing committees (DRSCs):

• Until the 13th Lok Sabha, each DRSC comprised 45 members — 30 nominated from Lok Sabha and 15 from the Rajya Sabha.
• However, with their restructuring in July 2004, each DRSC now has 31 members — 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha, to be nominated by Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman, respectively.
• They are appointed for a maximum period of one year and the committees are reconstituted every year cutting across party lines.

Significance of Parliamentary Committee System:

1. Inter-Ministerial Coordination.
2. Instrument For Detailed Scrutiny.
3. Acting As Mini-Parliament.