Govt to set up Task Force to examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget Speech for 2020-21 in the Parliament had stated that “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. There are imperatives of lowering MMR as well as improvement of nutrition levels. Entire issue about age of a girl entering motherhood needs to be seen in this light. I propose to appoint a task force that will present its recommendations in six months’ time.”

The composition of the Task Force is as under-Jaya Jaitley, Chairperson; Dr Vinod Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog Member (Ex-officio), Secretary, M/o Health and Family Welfare Member (Ex-officio), Secretary, M/o Women & Child Development Member (Ex-officio), Secretary, D/o Higher Education - Member (Ex-officio), Secretary, D/o School Education & Literacy Member (Ex-officio), Secretary, Legislative Department Member (Ex-officio), Najma Akhtar (New Delhi) Member, Vasudha Kamath (Maharashtra) Member and Dr Dipti Shah (Gujarat) Member.

The Terms of Reference of the Task Force are: To examine the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood with (a) health, medical well-being and nutritional status of mother and infant, during pregnancy, birth and thereafter, (b) key parameters like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Total Fertility Rate (TFR), Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB), Child Sex Ratio (CSR) etc. and (c) any other relevant points pertaining to health and nutrition in this context.

The Task Force may invite other experts to its meetings if and as required and will be provided secretarial assistance by the NITI Aayog and will submit its report by July 31.

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