OOn World Population Day, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath provoked a heated debate by unveiling the Uttar Pradesh Population Policy 2021-2030. The policy aims to reduce the total fertility rate among women to 2.1 by 2026 and to 1.9 by 2030 – from the current rate of 2.7.
“Throughout the world, concerns have been raised from time to time that increasing population is an obstacle to development. Discussions about this have been going on for four decades,” the CM said.
In accordance with the policy, efforts will be made to increase the accessibility of contraceptive measures within the family planning program and provide an appropriate system for safe abortions. Arrangements have been made to ensure health services for all and to pay special attention to pregnant women, infants, sick newborns and children suffering from severe malnutrition. “Countries and states that have made efforts in this direction have seen positive results. However, further efforts are needed,” he said.
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Population Control Policy
This comes days after the Adityanath government uploaded the project population control bill on its website, inviting submissions through July 19. If adopted, the provisions of the draft law will enter into force one year after its publication in the Official Gazette.
The main provisions of the bill are: to increase the accessibility of contraceptive measures; provide an appropriate system for safe abortion; reduce the infant and maternal mortality rate; and better manage the education, health and nutrition of adolescents aged 11-19.
The bill also provides several incentives such as out-of-round promotions, two additional raises, 12-month paternity leave with full pay and allowances, and a 3 percent increase in the employer’s contribution to the scheme. national pension. Citizens who are not government employees will enjoy benefits such as tax reductions on water, housing, home loans, etc.
Other important provisions of the bill include the establishment of a national population fund and the introduction of population control as a compulsory subject in all secondary schools.
The UP Law Commissionwho prepared the bill, claimed that the policy would be voluntary and not imposed on anyone.
On the face of it, the bill, with its rationale and most of its provisions, seems reasonable. But what makes it suspicious is its timing. The Adityanath government has been in power in the UP for over four years. But it is only now that the benefits of population control have suddenly dawned on the CM, when the government is already in election mode. The common suspicion expressed is that the bill is a ploy to create a Hindu-Muslim controversy, which is now a tried and tested standard election-winning polarization formula.
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Ignore critical issues
The right has always blamed Muslims for the so-called “population explosion”. He constantly tried to instill in Hindus a fear that Muslims would quickly reproduce with the intention of overtaking them and seizing political power. Many BJP and RSS leaders have repeatedly urged Hindus to produce more children. This propaganda is totally wrong, if not downright malicious.
If Muslim fertility has indeed been highest, it is because of illiteracy, poverty and poor access to health services – the three key determinants of fertility behavior. We have never heard the right worry about these three factors. We only saw rays put in the scholarship programs for minorities, in addition to madrasas (an Arabic/Urdu name for pathshala or school) being constantly reviled.
On revenue, what we have heard and seen are calls for an economic boycott of Muslims. The provision of all kinds of services, including health and family planning, is the weakest of the Muslim groups, still hatefully described as “mini-Pakistan”. Despite these hurdles, uptake of family planning among Muslims has been surprisingly high over the past three decades—faster than Hindus. Consequently, the fertility differentialwhich never had more than one child (1.1 to be precise), went down to 0.48.
It should be noted that while the birth rate of Muslims was the highest, Hindus were not far behind, with the second highest birth rate. While uptake of family planning by Muslims was 45%, that of Hindus was 54%, well under 80% among Sikhs. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), in 22 states, the fertility rate of Muslims was lower than that of Hindus in Bihar. If religion were the determining factor, Muslims across the country would procreate more. This highlights the fact that socioeconomic conditions, rather than religion, influence fertility behavior. NFHS clearly points out that in the so-called BIMARU states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the socio-economic conditions of Hindus and Muslims are lower than in other states.
Read also : Muslims are poorer, less educated than Hindus. But their children are more likely to survive to age 5
The pattern is clear
Even a cursory look at the provisions of the UP population control bill shows that most measures, however desirable, do not need a policy. Improving health and family planning services is the obvious thing that is long overdue. It is only incentives and disincentives that are the new features of population policy, and both are undesirable. Global experience has shown that such measures are always counterproductive.
It is obvious that the population policy cannot target a single religious community even if this is the hidden intention. Don’t Hindus have more than two children? The backlash from them is likely to be greater. Not surprisingly, right-wing Hindu organizations attacked the bill soon after its publication.
It is interesting to note that the objectives set out in the policy are on track to be achieved long before the stipulation of the policy. For example, the target of 2.1 TFR is already expected by 2025.
The saving grace is that the population policy has been made “voluntary”, which is paradoxical. Is a person with more than two children who do not opt for politics eligible to stand for election? The policy raises another question: why has the government only given one week to submit comments on a policy it took four years to draft? Moreover, it will only be operational one year after the notification. What is it used for ? Of course, the elections. I have a feeling that if Muslims come out in favor of the policy, the Adityanath government itself will back down under pressure from the Hindu right.
The author is the former Chief Electoral Commissioner of India and the author of The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning, and Politics in India. He tweets @DrSYQuraishi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant Dixit)