A Bill to revitalize efforts and provide for measures to control, stabilize and provide welfare to the population of the State by implementation and promotion of two-child norm and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto.
India is the second-most populous country and with an annual growth rate of 1%, it is all set to surpass China and become the country with the highest population in the world.
India is a developing country and a large population causes huge hurdles in the growth and development of the nation. Low per capita income, increasing unemployment, unorganized administration, the burden of Unproductive Consumers, low quality of life, and much more.
28% of the population is still below the poverty line and thus we can establish that India is in dire need to control its population. Uttar Pradesh with a population of more than 166 million is the most populous state in the country. With an aim to control the population, the UP government launched a two-child policy.
The private member bill came into existence in the second week of July 2021. The purpose behind the bill is to control the radically increasing population of Uttar Pradesh. Although in a decade, the fertility rate of Uttar Pradesh has gone down from 4 to 2.7, there is no sight of population control in the state. The policy aimed to curb the population of the most populated state through the means of incentivization, disincentivization, and penalties. The policy introduced a multiplicity of provisions under the single motive of reduction in the population of Uttar Pradesh. The policy asserted the following elements:
Introduction of Two child policy
Incentives for families adopting the policy
Disincentives for families not adhering to the policy
The single most motive of the pensive bill is to curb the population but the policies mentioned in the bill jeopardize many basic rights given by the constitution, for eg. the Right to reproduce.
Briefly assessing the policy, the following insights could be gathered:
Income inequalities
It is a known fact that India has huge income disparities and surprisingly the proposed bill is expected to take these disparities to new heights. According to the bill, families with more than two children would not be eligible for many government subsidies and transfers. However, the policy somehow seems unfair towards the poor labour class who tend to reproduce more children with a view that more children imply more helping hands. Such strata of the population must be made aware of the consumption of an additional child instead of barring them from Government benefits and pushing them deeper into the vicious circle of poverty and never-ending misery.
A danger to Girl child
UP ranks 25th with a sex ratio of 908 per thousand males and only 69.72% of the population is literate among which female literacy stands at a meagre 59%. Keeping in mind the above-stated figures and the fact that patriarchy is deep-rooted in UP, this policy is very likely to worsen the situation of women in the state and consequently in the country. Currently, UP has a child sex ratio of 899 per thousand males. Two child policy thus can aggravate female foeticide, unsafe abortions, and female oppression.
A Hit on the reproductive rights
Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free from discrimination, coercion, and violence.
Population control bill poses a direct violation of the reproductive rights of couples/women, which is against the foundation of the country i.e democracy.
Hindrance in the development
The policy, directly or indirectly, will also mount the plight of the country in the field of development as well. The policy briefly comprehends the incentives to families with two children or less. The policy adds a provision for the preference of people with less than two children for promotions and acquisition. When it comes to the selection and optimization of government jobs, the policy seems highly inequitable. Ethically, job selection and promotion should be done merely based on skills and expertise. Due to this, a less skilled person is likely to be employed instead of the one that was capable of bringing the change.
Furthermore, the bill also adds multiple policies for education as well, for eg, single child to get preference for admission and free education till 20, single girl child to get a scholarship, etc. The policy subverts the Right to Education. Education is a birthright of every individual and shouldn’t be shaped by the choices made by the parents.
The need of the hour is to step in with some practical suggestions. Some of them are given here:
Exclusivity of education and jobs
The bill should not be inclusive of any policy complying with the education and jobs of the individual. The right to Education and the Right to Work are basic human rights and no single policy should undermine them for any individual.
Include a larger sample of the population
The policy takes into account only the Government employees, which is a significantly small sample size. Thus, the impact of the policy would be limited. However, a start in the direction of population control is appreciated.
Adoption
There are thousands of children who live in utter poverty, without any roof and suffer from child labour. The proposed bill must consider the importance of adoption and should urge people to go for adoption and provide a home to those in need.
The bill came as a surprise and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the bill is proposed without any planning. There is a huge problem in the implementation of this policy. The Government should start familiarising people with the consequences of the huge population as a majority of the population is unaware. Information about the use of contraceptives methods should be magnified amongst people. Two child policy imposed in China has given fruitful results in controlling the population because of the dictatorship but here in India we can not force people to limit the number of children by barring them from government facilities, the population control policy should also focus more on making the people voluntarily come forward by organizing awareness drives and programs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ayush Maan is a 2nd-year student currently pursuing Economics honours from Delhi University. He is really passionate about public policy, consulting and research.
Prashansa Anand is a 2nd-year student currently pursuing Economics honours from Delhi University. She is really passionate about programming, data analysis and finance.
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