Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday demanded a tough population law after the United Nations released a report that predicted India would overtake China as the world’s most populous country next year. . The report was released on the occasion of World Population Day.
“We have limited resources, but our population is expanding like the mouth of Sursa (a mythical female demon believed to have an ever-expanding mouth),” Singh said in a video posted to her Twitter account.
“The evil state of mind (vikrit mansikta) in which one person begets 10 children cannot be allowed,” added Singh, who often makes headlines for making controversial comments.
Read: Nagaland minister’s tweet on World Population Day leaves ‘singles’ elated
Drawing comparisons with China, the BJP leader said that while India has lost to its big neighbor in terms of economic progress, it has overtaken the nation in terms of population growth.
He added that the need of the hour is a strict law (“kada kanoon”) for population control that would be applicable throughout the country and to people of all religious affiliations.
“The demand for such a law must be high, from parliament to the streets (‘sansad se sadak tak’),” the BJP leader said.
The comments by Singh, who represents Begusarai Lok Sabha headquarters in Bihar, showed a completely different stance taken by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose JD(U) is the BJP’s biggest ally domestically. Kumar has frequently refuted the legislative route to achieve population stabilization as he believes birth rates could be better controlled by educating women and girls rather than enacting laws.
World Population Day is observed annually on July 11 to raise awareness of global population issues, including population control. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF), the day “offers a moment to celebrate human progress”.
The World Population Prospects 2022 from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, indicates that the world population is expected to reach eight billion by mid-November, about 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9, 7 billion in 2050.
India was among the 10 countries whose estimated net outflows of migrants exceeded 1 million between 2010 and 2021. In many of these countries, the outflows were due to temporary labor movements. The highest net outflow of migrants was reported by Pakistan (-16.5 million)