BJP MPs Ravi Kishan & Rakesh Sinha to move bills on population control in Monsoon session

Amid the UP government's thrust on population control, BJP MPs Ravi Kishan and Rakesh Sinha will introduce private member's bills on the same subject during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament. A private member's bill is a bill introduced by a parliamentarian other than a Minister with a negligible chance of being cleared by the House. Kishan and Sinha shall table the proposed legislation in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively. 

These bills focus on disincentivising couples having more than two children by making them ineligible for government jobs and subsidies. Writing on Twitter, Sinha mentioned that PM Modi himself had talked about a balance between population and resources. The aim of his bill titled 'The Population Regulation Bill' is to promote the family norms of up to two children per couple, ensure the accessibility and affordability of reproductive health services and harness the demographic potential in a sustainable manner. 

UP's draft population control bill

Suggestions have been invited on the proposed The Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021, by July 19. The provisions of this legislation will come into force only after one year from the date of publication in the Gazette. As per the bill, a public servant and a common person who adopts the two-child norm by undergoing voluntary sterilization operation upon himself or his house will be entitled to benefits such soft loan for constructing or buying a house at nominal interest rates, rebate on charges for utilities, maternity or paternity leave for 12 months with full salary and allowances, etc. 

Couples opting for a single child will get additional incentives such as free health care facilities and insurance for the child till the age of 20, free education up to graduation for the child along with a preference for admission in all educational institutions including IIMs and AIIMS, preference for the child in government jobs and scholarship for higher studies in case of a girl child. If they fall in the Below Poverty Line category, parents of a single child shall be paid Rs.80,000 and Rs.1,00,000 if the child is a boy and girl respectively. The bill also prescribes disincentives for those who violate the two-child policy.

They will be barred from receiving benefits of government-sponsored schemes, contesting an election to local bodies, applying to government jobs, getting promoted in government services, and receiving any kind of government subsidy. The exceptions to the law include multiple births out of second pregnancy, adoption up to two children, disability of the first or second child, death of a child, and so forth. Meanwhile, the UP government has been tasked to establish maternity centres at all primary health care centres, distribute and encourage the use of contraceptive pills and condoms and introduce population control in the school curriculum.