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Recently, two Members of Parliament of the Bharatiya Janata Party introduced in the Lok Sabha a private members’ Bill aimed at population control in India.
Major Highlights
- The Bill seeks to insert a new directive principle in Part IV of the Constitution enjoining the State to take all steps to control population growth by promoting small family norms and achieve a stable population.
- The Bill also makes it a fundamental duty for citizens to adopt small family norms and work towards a stable population of the country.
The rationale behind the bill
- Population rise is the most significant reason for India’s slow rate of development, and the Bill argues for an immediate need for population control.
- India’s most serious social and economic problems are its huge population and rapid growth.
- Rapid population growth will lead to problems and extreme poverty.
- Policies framed by various governments have not been able to control the population and there is no law on population control.
- A rising population limits the ability of the State to provide a better quality of life to its citizens since a large chunk of national income is spent on maintaining the existing facilities.
- There is a need for a law on population so that every Indian reaps more benefits from economic growth and deals with challenges posed by fast population growth.
the Discourse and Debate around India’s rising population
- The debate and the discourse around India’s rising population are not recent, having begun since Independence.
- India was among the first nations to address its population problem as early as 1951, raising awareness about the ills of overpopulation.
- While there has been a significant rise in India’s population, there has also been a sharp decline in India’s total fertility rate (TFR).
- In 1950, the TFR was at around 5.9%, and is now 2% (fifth round of the National Family Health Survey, or NFHS).
- There was a steep decline after the 1970s, indicating an inversely proportional relationship between economic prosperity and the fertility rate.
- The debate around the need for population control has been greatly politicised in India.
- The entirety of this discourse around such a sensitive issue is often reduced to a petty religious issue, and, ultimately, the subject of development suffers.
- In 2022 Uttar Pradesh government came up with the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilisation, and Welfare) Bill, 2021.
- It has been highlighted that population is a grave concern in the Hindi heartland, especially Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
- But the suggestions were more political than practical.
- For instance, the Bill said that no government job would be offered to couples with more than two children.
- However, there was no clarification about what would happen to a person who had a third child after being in a government job or if, for some reason, a person with two children remarried and had a third child.
- The Bill was seen to strengthen political polarisation and facilitate the politics of majority appeasement.
- But the suggestions were more political than practical.
Indication of Data
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Conclusion and Suggestions
- India does not need a law for forced population control.
- Forced population control measures have not shown promising results in the countries that have implemented them, the most relevant example being India’s immediate neighbour, China.
- The one-child policy has proved to be disastrous, causing a demographic imbalance.
- The population of China is aging faster than in any other modern country, owing to the policies of forced population control.
- Forced population control measures have not shown promising results in the countries that have implemented them, the most relevant example being India’s immediate neighbour, China.
- External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has countered the need for such a law by saying, “forced population control can have very dangerous consequences, it can create a gender imbalance”.
- The focus should be on strengthening public health infrastructure and raising awareness about the need for population control.
- Any forced control method will impact the rate of aging.
Mains Practice Question [Q] Do you agree that India needs a law on population control? Give reasons in support of your answer. |
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