The action comes more than a year after he said, during an Independence Day speech, that the government is considering raising the legal age of marriage for women. The country is taking this decision for its daughters,' Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after The Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill was introduced in parliament Tuesday. 'We are doing this so that they can have time to study and progress. But many women activists say the planned law would do little to address deep-seated societal problems that result in millions of young girls being married at an age even younger than 18. In India, the government has proposed legislation to raise the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years old, bringing it on par with men and saying it will empower women.