INTRODUCTION
Assam and UP State Governments recently announced the two-child policy for the state and said that those who do not abide by the law will not be benefited under different government schemes run by the State. Those who have more than two children will not be eligible for government jobs.
This article deals with the Two-Child Policy announced by the Government of Assam and Uttar Pradesh and the Population Regulation Bill introduced a by Private member in the Parliament in 2019. It provides an insight into the social consequences of this policy. The article analyzes the question of whether this policy needs to be introduced in India and if not, what other steps can be taken by the government in its place.
TWO-CHILD NORM POLICY: IN NEWS
Recently, the Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, announced that the government will gradually implement a two-child policy in the state. These population norms will be taken into account for availing benefits under different state government schemes. Those who have more than two children will not be eligible for the benefits. The government has decided that this population norm will also be applicable to check the eligibility for government jobs from January 2021. The population control policy bars those who have more than two children from contesting for the elections of Panchayats and other local bodies. The incentives and disincentives states under the policy shall have a prospective effect. The same was followed by the State Government of Uttar Pradesh where CM Yogi Adityanath announced for two-child policy in the state.
The two-child norm policy shall have a direct impact on the weaker section of society, especially on women as they do not have independent reproductive choices. The people belonging to poor strata of society and having more than two children will not be able to avail themselves of the government schemes.
A PRIVATE MEMBER BILL ON TWO-CHILD POLICY
In 2019, a nominated Member of Parliament presented a private member’s bill, known as Population Regulation Bill, 2019, in the Rajya Sabha. The bill seeks to implement a two-child norm by providing incentives to those who adopt small family practices and penalties to those who contravene it. It states that people who have more than two children should be disqualified from being elected as Member of Parliament (MP), Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), or member of other local governments.
The Bill proposes for incorporation of Article 47-A in Directive Principles of State Policies under Part IV of the Constitution in order to provide incentives, and concessions to those who adhere to small-family norms and withdraw all kinds of concessions from those who do so. According to the bill, Article 47-A would read,” The State shall promote small-family norms by offering incentives in taxes, employment, education, etc. to its people who keep their family limited to two children and shall withdraw every concession from and deprive such incentives to those not adhering to small-family norms, to keep the growing population under control.”
SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF TWO-CHILD POLICY
With the enforcement of the two-child policy, there will be a legal restriction on couples for not having more than two children. It may have negative consequences in the society in long run. The legal restriction might make the couples go for sex-selective abortions. It would force a large number of rural women, especially those belonging to the lower section of society, to opt for unsafe abortions because of a lack of access and affordability to safe abortions. This policy can also create gender imbalance and mental inferiority towards women. There will be increased cases of pre-natal sex determination and induced abortion of the female fetus. The sex ratio will deteriorate. In long run, interference in the birth rate can lead to negative population growth, a problem that most of the developed countries are facing now.
ANALYSIS: IS THE TWO-CHILD POLICY REQUIRED IN INDIA
• India’s population is growing and will continue to grow for the next few decades. The reason behind it is that there is a large proportion of the population falling under the marriageable age group and they will produce children.
• As per the data collected by National Family Health Survey, there has been a tremendous decline in fertility rate as compared to the recent past. The average number of children a woman is expected to bear during her lifetime is known as TRF. According to the survey, country-level TRF stands at 2.23 which is not much higher than the desired level of 2.1 TRF.
• A TRF level of 2.1 is considered as replacement level fertility. This level, if achieved, can lead to population stabilization in the long run. In India, 20 states/UTs have attained the replacement level TRF, five have TRF level less than 2.2, and the remaining 11 stated to have a higher level.
• The data also shows that these 11 states/UTs comprise 42% of the total population of India. These states have also marked a fall in their TRF levels.
• Looking at all these statistics, there does not seem a grave requirement to introduce a two child policy in order to control the population.
MEASURES FOR POPULATION CONTROL IN INDIA
India is the second-most populous country in the world with a population of 1.37 billion. Excessive population implies excessive exploitation of national resources. The high birth rate is the main behind rapid population growth. The measures for reducing the birth rate can be categorized into 3 heads: Social measures, Economic measures, and Other measures.
• Social Measures:
The Government should increase the age for marriage because marriage at a young- age results in a long span for giving birth and also leads to a lack of education and awareness in the couple. The spread of education and awareness change the outlook and perspective of people. They plan their family in advance and tend to keep a small family. The couples who cannot have a child due to costly medical treatment should consider the adoption of orphan children. It would be beneficial to both the child and the couple. The government should also promote adoption by providing incentives.
• Economic Measures:
The government should create more employment opportunities in both rural as well as urban areas. Employment increases the income of people and their standard of living will improve. They will adopt small family norms. The government should provide incentives to couples who have two or less than two children. Incentives can be in form of health, financial or educational support for the children. It will encourage people to adopt small family norms.
• Other Measures:
The government should take legal actions such as making family planning and use of contraception mandatory for all. It can make laws to abolish child marriage, labor, beggary as it will prohibit parents to sell their children or force them to work as labor and they will plan for small size family. Awareness programs can be conducted to inform people about the ill effects of having a large family as they will not be able to provide sufficient nutrition, health, and educational facilities to all the children.
CRITICISM RELATED TO ‘TWO-CHILD POLICY’
Many critics argued that the rate of population growth in India will naturally go on the path of a declining trajectory as the citizens of the country become more educated. They observed that in the case of China’s One-Child Policy, people gave more preference to boys that resulted in gender gap and millions of children went undocumented who were born to parents who already had their one child. With the enforcement of the two-child policy, there is a strong possibility that these problems may arise in India as well.
In its declaration, the Human Rights Commission (NHRC) considered the two-child policy as regressive and violative of the principle of voluntary informed choice, human rights, and rights of the child. The Economic survey for the year 2016-17 concluded that the strict measures for population control have led to an aging population. The Government should not ignore all these commitments and pronouncements.
WAY AHEAD
Despite of adopting the two-child norm policy, India should emphasize on the need to improve ongoing policy measures by making them more comprehensive. There are several states that have improved their fertility rate in the recent past. There is a remarkable improvement in education, health, and awareness of the citizens also. The South Indian states, in general, have also marked improvement in social indicators like the literacy rate, especially among females, which are better than the rest of the country. In this scenario, the Indian government must focus on overall social development instead of coercive population control measures. It should establish an enabling and non-pressurizing environment in which couples can voluntarily opt for, and feel safe about, planning to limit their family size.
REFERENCES
• https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/16/why-two-child-policy-in-indias-mostpopulous-state-is-coercive visited on September 24, 2021 at 8:23 am
• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/the-past-and-present-of-two-child-policiesin-india-101626304115798.html visited on September 24, 2021 at 5:54 pm
• https://www.livemint.com/news/india/twochild-policy-on-anvil-in-uttar-pradesh-assamwhat-have-they-proposed-11625917891178.html visited on September 24, 2021 at 9:14 pm
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/14/india-states-considering-two-childpolicy-and-incentives-for-sterilisation visited on September 25, 2021 at 3:27 pm
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ups-2-child-policy-is-there-a-need-forpopulation-control-measures-in-india/articleshow/84440004.cms visited on September 25, 2021 at 4:11 pm