Allow All Women MPs To Take Part In House Panel Meetings On Marriage Age Bill: Sushmita Dev
The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, proposes to increase the legal age of marriage for women from 18 years to 21 years.
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev, who is the sole woman member of a parliamentary standing committee that is examining the bill for raising the legal age of marriage for women, has sought inclusion of all women MPs in its meetings.
Sushmita Dev has written to the parliamentary standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports chairperson, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, to invoke a rule that would allow all the women MPs to testify before the panel, PTI reported.
While the Rajya Sabha has 29 women members, the Lok Sabha has 81.
A 31 Member Parliamentary Standing Committee of which 30 are male MPs will decide if marriage age should be raised to 21. Smt. @priyankac19 has written to @VPSecretariat to kindly ensure a more woman inclusive panel to deliberate on a decision impacting India’s women pic.twitter.com/AWUo8DV1kD
— Office Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@Priyanka_Office) January 3, 2022
The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which proposes to increase the legal age of marriage for women from 18 years to 21 years, was introduced in the Lok Sabha in the winter session of Parliament.
"These standing committees were reconstituted a few months ago, and presently, I am the sole woman member in a committee of 31 members," the letter by Sushmita Dev said.
"In reference to this, and under Rules 84(3) and 275 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha), I wish to propose that any woman member of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha be empowered to testify either in writing or in person before the Committee on this issue," she said in the letter.
READ | Bill To Increase Legal Marriage Age Of Women From 18 To 21 Introduced In Lok Sabha
"I am sure all my female colleagues will have much to contribute to the discussion on this issue. I request you to use the powers of your office to open the meetings of the Committee on this issue to testimonials from any of the Honourable women members, and request you to allot time accordingly," she said.
On Monday, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote to Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to ensure a more "woman inclusive panel to deliberate on a decision impacting India's women".
"A 31 member Parliamentary Standing Committee of which 30 are male MPs will decide the fate of women to decide if marriage age should be raised to 21...It is of utmost importance that the interests of all stakeholders are taken into account and that voices of all, especially women are heard and understood by the committee," Chaturvedi wrote.
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