Drop one-child norm from draft population policy, will lead to imbalance, VHP tells UP govt
India

Drop one-child norm from draft population policy, will lead to imbalance, VHP tells UP govt

VHP has raised objections to Sections 5, 6(2) and 7 of the bill that incentivise public servants and others to have only one child.

   
A crowded market in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (representational image) | Photo: ANI

A crowded market in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh | Representational Image | Photo: ANI

New Delhi: Raising concern over the draft Uttar Pradesh population control bill released by the state law commission Friday, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has asked the panel to delete the one-child norm from the draft.

In a letter to the UP Law Commission, Alok Kumar, working president of the VHP, said they have read the draft of the UP Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021 inviting suggestions for modification. “The preamble of the Bill states that this is a Bill (6) inter alia to stabilize the population and (ii) promotion of two child norm. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) agrees with both objects.” the letter says.

However, the VHP has raised objections to Sections 5, 6(2) and 7 of the bill that “incentivise public servants and others to have only one child in the family go well beyond the said objectives”.

“We also notice that the population policy of Uttar Pradesh has an object to bring the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to 1.7 within a certain time limit. We suggest that Sections 5, 6(2) and 7 of the Bill as also the object of bringing the TFR to 1.7 needs reconsideration,” the letter reads.

The Uttar Pradesh government released the first draft of the proposed ‘UP Population (Control, Stabilization, and Welfare) Bill, 2021’ Friday and has invited suggestions from the public by 19 July.

The proposed law offers multiple incentives to families that follow the two-child norm. This includes two additional increments during service for government employees, subsidised purchase of plot or house, and 3 per cent increase in EPF.

There is more on offer for those who have just one child, including two additional increments and free healthcare for the child till he/she attains the age of 20 years. A single child will also be given preference for admission in all education institutions.


Also read: No govt job if you have over 2 kids, says draft UP population bill, sterilisation to earn reward


‘Growing imbalance’

The letter also says that “in the case of Uttar Pradesh, the one-child policy is likely to lead to furthering of the imbalance between different communities because they are known to respond differently to the incentives and disincentives related to family planning and contraception”.

It says that the imbalance has been growing in several states of India. “The imbalance is becoming especially alarming in states like Assam and Kerala where the overall growth of population has declined. In both those states, the TFR of Hindus has declined far below the replacement rate of 2.1, but that of Muslims is 3.16 in Assam and 2.33 in Kerala. In these states, one of the communities has thus entered the contraction phase while the other is still expanding.”

The VHP goes on to argue that Uttar Pradesh “should avoid getting into that situation”. “The policy needs to be tailored to redress the imbalance otherwise one-child policy may end up doing the opposite.”

In the letter, Kumar says: “Population in a society stabilises when the average number of children born to a woman in her reproductive life (called Total Fertility Rate) is marginally above two. This happens when the TFR is 2.1. This rate is also defined as the replacement rate. At this level of TFR, on the average, there are two children born to replace the two parents and the additional 0.1 child provides for the possibility of some children dying before reaching the reproductive age and similar other wastage. Therefore, a two-child policy is considered desirable for achieving population-stability. A policy aiming at an average of less than 2 children per woman leads to a contraction of population over time. Such contraction has several negative social and economic consequences.”

It adds: “In a contracting population, the ratio between the working age and dependent population gets disrupted. There is a rise in the number of persons that each working age person has to take care of. In an extreme case, the one-child policy would lead to a situation where there is only one working-age adult to look after 2 parents and 4 grandparents.”

Citing the example of China, Kumar says in the letter: “In China, which adopted the one-child policy in 1980, it was called the 1-2-4 phenomenon. To get over it. China had to relax its one-child policy for parents who were themselves single children of their parents. It is said that in China, the one-child policy was never applied to more than half of the prospective parents. Within about three decades, it had to be completely withdrawn.”

The letter also says single children are known to be “socially less accommodative”. “This is partly because they do not learn to share with siblings, and partly because they are over-indulged and pampered by their parents. This has been referred to as the ‘Little Emperor’ syndrome.”

The letter has suggested deletion of Section 5, and the consequential sections 6 (2) and 7 “to avoid the contraction of population as also the undesirable social and economic consequences of a one-child policy and also remove the anomaly of rewarding or punishing the child instead of the parents”. The VHP has also suggested attending an oral hearing on the representation.


Also read: If Assam and UP can plan for uniform population control law why not India, says VHP