There is one thing India is prominently known for; it’s population, the second highest in the world. And we know that India has never worn population badge proudly. For decades successive governments have tried their best to control population but couldn’t achieve the desired goal.
After the government’s announcement to introduce new population policy for 2021-2030, the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission on the occasion of World Population Day i.e- 11th July, has released the first draft of the bill aimed at the population control. The draft has been titled as “Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilisation and Welfare) Bill, 2021”. The bill has enlisted incentives for those limiting their families to two children or less. However disincentives or non-adherence to the two-child norm have also been laid down.
As per the law comes in force, there are certain incentives for the public servants, state government employees who voluntarily undergo sterilisation and adopts the two child policy are eligible for two additional increments during the entire service, subsidy towards purchase of plot or house site, soft loans for house purchasing, rebate on charges for utilities such as water, electricity, house tax etc, maternity/paternity leave for 12 months will full salary and allowances, and other such incentives. However non-adherence to the policy might attract disincentives such as debarring from benefit of the government sponsored welfare schemes, limitation of ration card up to four people. Apart from this on enactment of law one violating it shall be ineligible to contest the election to local authority or any body of the local self-government and apply for the government job under the state government. There are several exemptions as well like multiple births out of second pregnancy and adoption. If the first or first two child are disabled then third pregnancy will not be considered as violation. There are also provisions for polygamy and polyandrous marriages as well.
The bill lists out some government duties as well. It states that maternity centre will be established at all the primary health centres, the centres and NGO’s will distribute contraceptive pills, condoms, etc. The family planning methods awareness will be spread through community health workers and ensure mandatory registration of pregnancies, deliveries, births and debts across the state. Also it will be duty of the government to introduce a compulsory subject relating to the population control in all of the secondary schools.
As per the Population Census of 2011, majority of population is between the age of 5 years to 20 years and there have been an exponential increment in its pace since 2011.
India’s population is not really growing at a fast pace as it is made out to be in fact as per census India’s population has registered a sharp decrease in a span of two decades population growth rate went from 21.54% in 1991 to 2000 to 17.64% in 2001 to 2011. Moreover India’s fertility rate has dropped to 2.3 births per women in 2016 compared to 3.2 births per women in 2000. Also population growth is not uniform across the nation with a rate varying from region to region, for example – Sikkim has the lowest fertility rate as compared to Bihar which has the highest in India.
India does have a population control bill if we are to talk about it but it has never been passed. In 2016 and 2019 the population regulation bill was stabled and discussed but it never went to vote. The bill penalizes those having more than two children debarring from political participation, government jobs and even government schemes while India does not have a national law on population control yet individuals states are implementing their own versions of it with most of state laws penalizes families for having more than two children.
Then why the bill has not been passed and is not a law yet?
If the government were to bring in a law to control population, there are number of repercussions it could produce. Firstly during the 1970’s emergency period India Strikes forced sterilization which didn’t go down well. Also the family planning program mostly targeted the poor, some accounts state that men were dragged away forcefully for vasectomies many of whom also died due to complications and unhygienic practices. Secondly we have an example of our neighbouring country China as its one child policy gives a wider glimpse into the ills of adopting such a law. China now struggles with disproportionate numbers of aging population as compared to the younger population. The one child policy also resulted in one of the world’s most skewed sex ratio with 1.15 males for every female in China as per the data available for 2016. While China has since ended the policy but its impact continues to linger. Thirdly China’s concern could be India’s too as the country still has preference for male children. According to Sample registration system SRS report shows that sex ratio at birth in India decreased from 906 females to every 1000 males in 2011 to 899 females in 2018. The normal sex ratio at birth is 950 females to 1000 males. Broadly the primary victims of the Draft Bill will be Indian women in general, of this generation as well as future generation. In many areas already women do not have the option to refuse marriage or to reproduce and several are forced to undergo non-voluntary birth control measures. The 1991 census found that in states which has penalized with more than two children had resulted in men divorcing their wives as soon as they become pregnant with the third child.
These habits will only intensify under a law that passively legitimises such actions, including forced sterilisation, IUD insertion and use of hormonal contraceptives (even when they may be medically inadvisable). Female infanticide will also likely worsen, from the current skew of 909 female births per 1,000 male births.
And lastly the burden of family planning disproportionately falls on women the national family health survey for data shows that out of 47.8% of the total modern contraception used in India 41.6 are for the use of women or bodies with uterus, more than 75 of the overall modern contraceptive used in India is bored by the women while contraception has drastically declined. In an unintended effect, the Bill will ensure the continued marginalisation and erasure of women from public life.
This Bill seeks to revitalize the efforts and provide for measures to control, stabilize and provide welfare to the population of the state by implementing and promoting two child norms. However the basic rule under the Constitution is equality of opportunity for every person in the country. The provisions of the Constitution mandate the State to give preferential treatment to only socially, educationally or economically disadvantaged people. It does not provide for similar reservations on the basis of the birth of the children. UNESCO defines educational discrimination as “any distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference which being based on race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic condition or birth has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the equality of treatment in education.”
According to the Draft Bill, if a person acts in contravention of two child policy, then that person shall be ineligible to avail any incentives and shall be subject to disincentives like debarring them from government sponsored welfare schemes and limit upto four will imposed on ration card. It is not specified whether a person will be barred from State welfare schemes or Central welfare schemes. It is open ended clause and implies if a third child is born, he will not be provided with social benefits like right to food, right to housing. There are many welfare schemes that operate under Central government and States are bound to follow and every person who is eligible under Central government welfare schemes cannot be barred. Like Anganwadi and Mid-day Meal schemes. The objective of this scheme is to combat child hunger and malnutrition. The Midday Meal scheme provides food to school children in schools in order to avoid the classroom. hunger, increase school enrollment and address malnutrition. Funding pattern of midday meal schemes is 60:40 between the Central and State governments. It is covered under National food Security act 2013 (NFS) and the state government is bound to implement the NFS act and midday meal scheme. And all children studying in Primary and Upper Primary Classes in Government, Govt. Aided, Local Body, EGS and AIE Centres, Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and NCLP Schools run by Ministry of Labour are eligible for Mid-Day Meal. Thus, the state government cannot bar the welfare rights of having the right to food to any child as it comes under ambit of the Central government and state government is bound to implement. So, according to the provision of UP population policy if a person does not adhere to the two-child norm policy, the state bars the third child from government welfare schemes. But the State is bound to implement these welfare schemes and eligible persons cannot be barred.
The Draft Bill, especially sections 5, 6 and 7, contemplates additional incentives than the ones prescribed under the general scheme of the bill. Section 5 lays down that public servant who have only one child and who opt for “voluntary sterilization operation upon himself or spouse, in addition to the incentives provided in the usual scheme under the present Bill”. Section 7 is mutatis mutandis to that of its preceding part except it extends to the general public And Section 8 moves a step further and is applicable to the “couple living below poverty line”. The concern that is raised here is that if in the normal course of action and without any due process of law, the state tries to sterilise its citizens to advance the limited child policy as is the general scheme of the present act, it will be unconstitutional on multiple fronts specially violating the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
The state’s fertility rate is 2.7% which is second most in the country after the Bihar which has the fertility rate of 3.2 whereas it should ideally be less than 2.1%.
The estimation is that while India may remain the country with the highest population perhaps even overtaking china one day the population will gradually decrease naturally.
The data states that in Uttar Pradesh there are limited ecological and economic resources at hand hence, it is necessary and urgent that the provision of basic necessities of the human life including affordable food and safe drinking water, decent housing, access to quality education, economic livelihood opportunities, power or electricity for domestic consumption and a secure living is accessible to all the citizens and thus it is imperative to have two-child policy or population control.
According to the Draft Bill, if a person acts in contravention of two-child policy, then that person shall be ineligible to avail any incentives and shall be subject to disincentives like debarring them from government-sponsored welfare schemes and limit up to four will imposed on ration card. It is not specified whether a person will be barred from state welfare schemes or Central welfare schemes. It is an open-ended clause and implies if a third child is born, he will not be provided with social benefits like right to food, right to housing. There are many welfare schemes that operate under Central government and states are bound to follow and every person who is eligible under Central government welfare schemes cannot be barred. Like Anganwadi and Mid-Day Meal schemes. The objective of these schemes is to combat child hunger and malnutrition.