NCPCR Writes to Rajasthan Government against Compulsory Registration of Child Marriages

Rajasthan: Today NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) wrote a letter to the Rajasthan government against the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages (Amendment) Bill, 2021 passed in Assembly. Moreover, the bill states that info on marriage between a groom who has not completed 21 years and a bride who has not completed 18 years of age has to be granted by parents within 30 days of marriage.

On Friday the Rajasthan Government passed a new law that the opposition claimed would legitimize the marriage of children. CM Ashok Gehlot’s government passed the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages (Amendment) Bill, 2021 by voice vote to amend a 2009 Act, with the opposition staging a walkout from the Assembly.

Rajasthan’s new marriage bill says that the bride and groom can apply for registration of marriage at the level of District Marriage Registration Officer as well as Additional District Marriage Registration Officer and Block Marriage Registration Officer Level of the place where they have been residing.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party has gone against the law. State’s Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria said, “I think this law is totally off-base. The administrators who have passed it have not seen it. Section 8 of the bill violates the current law in power against child marriages”.

Opposing to which Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Shanti Kumar Dhariwal clarified that “The bill doesn’t say that child marriage is substantial. The bill says that after marriage, just registration is essential. It doesn’t infer that child marriage is valid. Assuming the District Collector wants, he or she can still take action against the child marriages”.