NEW DELHI: The government said on Friday there was no need to pass a law to discourage couples from having more than two children as family planning and health policies are working well in the country without making them mandatory. Responding to a discussion of BJP named member Rakesh Sinha’s Population Regulation Bill 2019, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the government was carrying out extensive public awareness campaigns on family planning and strived to provide accessible and affordable health care to all.
With the “holistic approach” undertaken by the government, population stabilization policies are doing well without resorting to force. “We have obtained results since the synthetic fertility index has dropped to around 2%. . . This tells us that the family planning mission is progressing towards success,” the Minister of Health said. Sinha subsequently withdrew his private member’s bill. Earlier, opposition members said that states that have successfully implemented family planning programs should not be penalized and that any legislation to control the population should be done through democratic means and not by coercion. Jairam Ramesh (Congress) and Tiruchi Siva (DMK) argued that states should not lose central allocations based on the number of inhabitants.
With the “holistic approach” undertaken by the government, population stabilization policies are doing well without resorting to force. “We have obtained results since the synthetic fertility index has dropped to around 2%. . . This tells us that the family planning mission is progressing towards success,” the Minister of Health said. Sinha subsequently withdrew his private member’s bill. Earlier, opposition members said that states that have successfully implemented family planning programs should not be penalized and that any legislation to control the population should be done through democratic means and not by coercion. Jairam Ramesh (Congress) and Tiruchi Siva (DMK) argued that states should not lose central allocations based on the number of inhabitants.