A motion of attention to this effect was proposed by MP Vijay Kumar Khemka.
Patna:
To the embarrassment of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, a ruling BJP MP on Wednesday raised in the assembly the demand to introduce population control legislation, taking a position contrary to that of the Chief Minister.
A motion of attention to this effect was proposed by MP Vijay Kumar Khemka.
“We want to draw the attention of the House to the need to impose the two-child standard on all castes and communities,” the motion reads.
Predictably, the government chose to say nothing in response to the motion calling for attention in which a request was raised for the implementation of the Karunakaran committee report, which proposed measures such as the disqualification of people with more than two children.
Earlier, speaking to reporters outside the Bihar Assembly, Khemka said: “We are calling on the government to seriously consider a population control law. It is as important as having a law prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcohol.
When asked if it was a strategy of the BJP, which now enjoys the advantage in the NDA in Bihar, to annoy Nitish Kumar, Mr Khemka replied coyly “it is not not the party. It’s the whole society”.
Notably, Mr Kumar, who controls the JD(U), had recently expressed his disagreement with population control bills introduced by BJP governments in states like Assam and Uttar Pradesh.
He was of the opinion that raising public awareness and improving the education of women would better achieve the goal, as the experience of Bihar shows.
BJP cadres were of the view that Mr Kumar has strayed from the legislative path for population control because it would also bring under his control the Muslim community, which they accuse of reluctance to embrace family planning .