The population of a country can either create or destroy its economic development. If the population of a country is more than expected or necessary it could become a liability leading to several disadvantages caused to the country as a whole. India is the second most populated country in the world that has already reached a point wherein the population starts becoming a liability. The population explosion in India has led to several issues which are now harming the country as a whole. The further issue that adds to the misery is, that India is an abundance of the population that is uneducated and unaware of the details related to the growing population.
Restricting population growth by bills without considering the drawbacks
It has been proven that overpopulation is somehow pausing the process of economic and social development in our country. According to a report, India’s population is rising at a rate of about 1.8 % per annum which is a huge rolling.
It is expected that due to the existing covid-19 conditions the population is going to have a much more intense breakthrough which will lead to further losses in the development and growth. The major problem of India that is poverty is somehow related to the ever-growing population which leads to scarcity of food and other resources required for living. However, despite all these facts, we cannot restrict the growth of the population through bills and policies, without thinking about the drawbacks and disadvantages that come along.
The recent Population Control Bill and the others introduced earlier
In order to consider and tackle the same issue of the ever-growing population, a Population control bill has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha by the UP government. It is said to be proposed in order to solve the issue related to overpopulation and its consistent growth in numbers. It has specific targets for combating problems such as starvation, poverty, illiteracy, exploitation, and several others. However, this is not the very first step taken by the government in order to control the population but has happened earlier in the years 2000, 2020, and several others. The government has however failed to implement these with severity and control the Indian population appropriately.
Setting baits for the people has always remained the idea to succeed
The population control bill of 2021 focuses on pausing or restricting the population that is ever-growing in India by setting baits for people. The politicians try to attract the Indian citizens by the incentives and other benefits that it promises to the ones who have two or fewer than two children. It further aims to provide disadvantages to the ones with more than two children. The proposed bill further mentions and asks the central government to employ a National population stabilization fund named “Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh” which will be used in order to make sure of the availability of contraceptives in each and every region at health centers at affordable prices.
It advises providing benefits to the couples who have children below two in number or if they voluntarily undergo the process of sterilization at one. However, the policy and the bill require few financial aspects, and thus, the acceptance of President Ram Nath Govind to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha, which has already been granted.
Major sections in the introduced bill that might eve possibly worsen the lives of poor people
The proposed bill has sections related to the benefits that will be provided to the people with two or fewer children and disadvantages that will be borne by the ones having more than 2.
- According to section 6 of the bill, the parents who are voluntarily ready to undergo the process of sterilization and have only one child will be given the very priority preference in cases of government jobs and admissions in higher education institutes.
- Section 7 mention the benefits that would be given to the couple who have only one child but are above the below poverty line and still go through the process of sterilization. Such couples would receive an amount of about Rs. 60000 if they give birth to a boy, and Rs. 100000 in case of a girl child.
- Section 8 mention the disadvantages to the couples who will have more than 2 children. Such people would not be allowed for contesting or getting elected in the Rajya Sabha election,s state legislature, Panchayat, or any other similar activities. They will not be liable to get promoted during any government service and will be barred from applying for group A jobs that come under the central or state government. Such couples would not be given the benefits of the government subsidies if they are above the poverty line.
- Section 10 of the same bill mentions and requests the central government to set a population stabilization fund in order to provide contraceptives at affordable prices. This money would also be used in providing funds to the states and union territories that have been successful in implementing this bill and its policies.
- Section 12 speaks about the employees in the central government or staff once the act comes into implementation and hereafter the employees would be asked to give an undertaking in writing that they will stick to the mentioned policy and would not have more than two children in their lifetime.
- Once the bill comes to action if any person or employee of the central government already has more than two children they will be liable to submit an undertaking mentioning their address and acceptance to the bill and not seeking to give birth to anymore. If any of the employees reject the implementation of this bill they would be dismissed on an immediate basis.
- Section 13 of this bill spoke about the priority that would be given to the people having two or less than two children while it comes to recruiting employees in the government sector. This will motivate the people to control the population and the birth rate in order to have a government job which is of great significance in India. This is the worst bait that the government could have planned, as this might even lead to much more decline in the growth of minor sectors.
The unclear vision and personal motives of politics
Just like any other bill that has been ever introduced in the Rajya Sabha, this one is also similar. The bills have been kept on desks without thinking of the disadvantages or drawbacks that they bring along.
The population control bill of 2021 has some serious issues related to the same. Just like any other decision, it too consciously or unconsciously targets the poor or the marginalized section of the society in several ways. The poor section of society is completely unaware of the usage of contraceptives or the benefits that a small family brings to them. They have a mindset of having or wanting a male child over females which makes them plan for the birth of another child in order to make sure that they have a baby boy.
However, there is a section of the society that has always been suppressing the lower ones as they are not all friendly and the reality cannot be disregarded. The sections and ideas mentioned by the population control bill 2021 only target the lower section of the society as they are unaware of the several things related to the same and thus would lead to their debarring from government jobs, government subsidies, and several other things as mentioned by the bill.
The existence and implementation of this bill is supposedly expected to even increase the gender-specific death within the wombs of the Indian mothers, thus leading to great havoc and gender based discrimination, which can not even be halted by the government later. Thus, this bill will lead to a major deterioration in the poor section and amazing growth in the richer section.
Further, the bill fails to decide what it actually demands, or what is the major objective varying from boosting the rate of growth in India, smaller population size, or lesser people of a kind. The rich would keep growing and the lower section would stay below the poverty line as expected by this bill as of now.
Deterioration of the minority class is clear by the aspects that the Bill talks about
The sections mentioned in this bill would only add to the hardships of the poor people by leaving them with no choice but staying where they are economically and financially or maybe deteriorate for worse. No matter how many bills or policies come into existence wondering for the welfare of the common people, it will howsoever worsen their conditions. The political parties merely make a bill for attaching them in their manifestos in the next elections and do not consider what hardships it could bring to one’s life. The poor section or the middle class is the only such section of society, who keeps voting in huge numbers and still faces disadvantages all the time.
The mentioned and described positive changes that this bill will bring to the society for betterment is highly questionable as the richer section of the society is already aware of the contraceptives and benefits of smaller families, which is exactly opposite to the case of the poor section. This will all lead to the growth and development of the richer which is already stable, and the poor will face destruction and deprivation from the benefits of any sort.
These decisions are huge in themselves to change the growth rate of a country especially India and thus, should be first considered by all aspects. The bill will do partial good to society if it, unfortunately, comes into practice without bringing knowledge to the poor section about the usage of contraceptives, the advantages of smaller families, and the benefits that they might enjoy. The government must ensure proper details of this bill and initially work on the possible drawbacks before actually implementing the bill.
Edited by Tanish Sachdev
