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Yogi Adityanath’s move to control population

Following in Assam’s footsteps, whose Chief minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma, has been vocal in advocating population control for Muslims, the most populous state in India, Uttar Pradesh, is working towards a law that will restrict social welfare schemes, ration, government jobs and elections to local bodies, to those with two children, excluding all those who fail to conform to the two-child norm.

The scheme of the state government finds an outlet in the controversial population draft law which has been prepared by the Uttar Pradesh Health Department based on the findings of the National Family Health Survey-4. On more than one occasion, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has publicly commented on the urgent need to control population growth. He had even tweeted two years ago that “nuclear family is an expression of patriotism”.

The draft bill states that persons with more than two children after the enactment of the law shall be excluded from benefits of government-sponsored welfare schemes, will be barred from contesting election to local bodies, and shall be ineligible to apply for government jobs under the state government. They will be effectively barred from getting a promotion in a government job; their ration cards will be restricted to four members per family and he or she shall be ineligible to receive any kind of government subsidy. Control, stabilisation and welfare is what the law aims at, said the UP Law commission chairman A N Mittal. The introduction of the draft law which will be discussed has drawn the ire of opposition Samajwadi Party which said that the policy targets the second largest religious community, namely the Muslims, whose population accounts for 19.23 % of the state’s population.

The proposed bill offers a slew of incentives to those with two children and these range from a soft housing loan, rebate on charges for utilities such as water, electricity, and house tax among other things. State Government employees who conform to the two-child norm will also get two additional increments during the entire service, maternity or paternity leave of 12 months with full salary and allowances and free health care facility and insurance coverage to the spouse.

In addition, those with only a child will be entitled to free health care facilities and free insurance coverage to the single child till they turn 20, preference will be given to the single child in admission in all educational institutions, including IIMs and AIIMS, free education up to graduation level, scholarship for higher studies in case of a girl child and preference to a single child in government jobs. Public servants sticking to the one-child norm will be eligible for four additional increments in all apart from the incentives promised to the general public doing the same.

The law, when it comes into force, will be applicable to all married couples in the state of Uttar Pradesh who have attained legal age of marriage.

India was one of the first countries in the world to initiate a family planning programme, in 1952, aimed at “lowering fertility and slowing the population growth rate”.  State governments in the past, both Congress and the BJP, have tried to control population by incentivising those with two children and excluding those with more. India’s National Family Planning Programme is looking at reducing India’s overall fertility rate to 2.1 by 2025. Uttar Pradesh will be going to polls next year.