The Center is not considering any legislation for population control, Minister of State (MoS) for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Pawar was responding to a question on whether the government had taken notice of a statement by a Union minister demanding that a bill be introduced in an effort to control the population.
Pawar said that according to the census sample registration system, the crude birth rate (CBR) fell to 19.7 per 1,000 people in 2019, and “therefore the government is not considering any legislative action” .
The MoS further stressed that the government “gives highest priority to the national family planning program, which is guided by the principles of the National Population Policy 2000 and the National Health Policy 2017, to address the unmet need for family planning, with the aim of achieving population stabilization by 2045”.
“Government efforts have been successful in curbing population growth,” she said in a written response.
Pawar, in particular, presented the data that the total fertility rate (TFR) fell to 2.0 in 2019-21, according to the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS 5), – which is below the level of replacement – while fertility rates in 31 out of 36 states and UT were found to have fallen to the fertility replacement level in the same survey.
Pawar further informed Parliament that modern contraceptive use has increased to 56.5% and unmet need for family planning is only 9.4%, according to NFHS-5.