Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government has introduced the draft of the population control bill titled – The Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021. The draft bill has provisions that prohibit people with more than 2 children from subsidies and government jobs. Furthermore, the bill draft states that Below Poverty Line (BPL) couples will be entitled to a one-time lump sum amount of Rs 80,000 (for a single boy child) and Rs 1 lakh (for a single girl child) from the government if they limit the family to one child.
In 2004-05, nearly half of the Muslim population in UP was below the poverty line. Although the number has decreased in the last 15-16 years, still it is relatively higher than the Hindu numbers. The Muslim population in UP is 17-19 per cent, but their share in the benefits of welfare schemes is 30-35 per cent. This means that they will be the primary beneficiary of the scheme announced for the BPL families.
“The Muslim population in UP is 17-19 per cent, but their share in the benefits of welfare schemes is 30-35 per cent,” CM Yogi Adityanath had stated in the state assembly.
According to the statistics released by National Family Health Survey 2015-16, the total fertility rate among Hindus in Uttar Pradesh is 2.7, while it is 3.1 among Muslims. If the Muslim BPL class takes advantage of the revolutionary scheme, then the total fertility rate can be reduced, and it will ultimately aid in population control.
According to NFHS, the total fertility rate of UP is 2.7 per cent but ideally, it should be less than 2.1 per cent. Thus, if the scheme grows in pace amongst the BPL families, the ideal figure could be reached easily. The Law Commission of Uttar Pradesh should be given props for indirectly including this incentive scheme to stop the growing population of the particular community.
Notably, the NFHS-05 is scheduled to be released soon, and therefore, the final targets will be set for two phases, 2026 and 2030. As reported by TFI, Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in the country and with an ever-increasing population, the state and country resources have started to stretch thin. Keeping the future in mind, the Yogi Adityanath government has started acting early.
“In Uttar Pradesh, there are limited ecological and economic resources at hand. It is necessary and urgent that the provision of basic necessities of human life including affordable food, safe drinking water, decent housing, access to quality education, economic/livelihood opportunities, power/electricity for domestic consumption, and a secure living is accessible to all citizens,” reads the draft bill.
Suggestions, if any, can be sent to statelawcommission2018@gmail.com via email till the 19th of July, 2021. The UP government has taken the first step to curb the population control, the ball’s in the centre’s court to seize the initiative and implement a similar scheme on the national level so that the gains made by the draft bill are not lost.
India has very limited land and resources with extremely huge population. People must act wisely and smartly to decide how their children and next generations wants to lead their life.