Gender equality

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct. The MTP Amendment Act, 2021 raised the gestational limit for abortion from 20 to 24 weeks for specific categories of vulnerable women — including survivors of rape, minors, women with disabilities, and women whose marital status changes during pregnancy — requiring the opinion of two registered medical practitioners for such cases. Statement 2 is also correct. The 2021 amendment established State-level Medical Boards empowered to authorise termination of pregnancies with substantial foetal abnormalities beyond 24 weeks; there is no upper gestational ceiling for such Board-approved cases, making this a notable departure from the standard gestational limits. Statement 3 is incorrect. Under the MTP Act framework, the woman undergoing the termination is not held criminally liable — the penal exposure falls on the person who performs the procedure outside the Act's provisions. This is analogous to Poland's current law (noted as comparative context), where the woman undergoing an unlawful abortion is similarly exempt from criminal liability. The distinction between provider liability and patient immunity is a core feature of the MTP regime and reflects the Act's public-health, rather than purely punitive, orientation.

Explanation

All three pairs are correctly characterised. First, the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 raised paid maternity leave to 26 weeks (approximately 180 days) for eligible women employees; courts have consistently held this to be a statutory right — not an employer's concession — aimed at shielding motherhood from the rigours of employment. Second, extraordinary leave is a discretionary administrative grant made when an employee has exhausted all earned leave; it does not stem from any statutory maternity right and is typically without pay, entirely outside the maternity benefit framework. Third, earned (privilege) leave accrues through the employee's own service and is debited from a personal leave account — it is structurally separate from maternity leave. The Karnataka High Court's ruling illustrates the principle that once all three tiers (maternity leave → earned leave → extraordinary leave) are exhausted, continued absence is no longer sheltered by maternity protection and the normal discipline of public employment reasserts itself.

Explanation

Pair 1 is incorrectly matched. Under PCMA, 2006, child marriages are of two kinds: voidable and void. A marriage is voidable (not void) where the child party exercises the option to annul it, generally within two years of attaining majority — this is the default status. A child marriage is void (not merely voidable) in specified aggravated circumstances, such as where the child was trafficked, taken by force or deceit, or used for immoral purposes. Pair 1 therefore inverts the law: trafficking cases produce a void marriage, not a voidable one. Pair 2 is correctly matched. Section 16 of PCMA, 2006 specifically empowers State Governments to appoint Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) by notification in the Official Gazette. Their statutory duties span prevention, evidence collection, counselling, awareness creation, and furnishing periodic returns. Pair 3 is correctly matched. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) is implemented as a component of Mission Shakti, with the Ministry of Women and Child Development as the nodal ministry, working in multi-sectoral collaboration with the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Minority Affairs.