BJP MP Rakesh Sinha yesterday withdrew his private member’s bill on population control after Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya intervened. Sinha had submitted his Population Regulation Bill to Rajya Sabha in July 2019. The bill to implement a two-child rule with criminal provisions in case of violation met resistance from Mandaviya who told the Rajya Sabha that the government had successfully used awareness and health campaigns to reduce population growth rather than using force.
Detailing the success of family planning programs, Mandaviya noted that the country has seen a reduction in the total fertility rate (TFR) – the average number of children per woman – to 2.0 nationwide. Sharing data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-V and the Population Census, Mandaviya said the population growth rate was steadily declining.
“In 1971, the average annual exponential growth was 2.20; 2.14 in 1991; 1.97 in 2001; and 1.64 in 2011. This shows that population growth has come down, and has come down… That’s a good sign. The total fertility rate fell to 2.0 in NFHS-V,” Mandaviya said.
Pointing out that the teenage birth rate and teenage marriage have been reduced to 6.8% and 23.3% respectively, Mandaviya said government policies in this direction are yielding positive results and asked Sinha to withdraw the bill.
In withdrawing his bill, Sinha expressed confidence that the government will be able to control the population, rising above caste, religion, language and district. According to the Indian Express, Sinha also said that while he did not use the words Hindu or Muslim in the bill, one should not shy away from using facts when discussing an issue. “Between 1901 and 2011, the Hindu population decreased by 13.8%, while the Muslim population increased by 9.8%. That’s a fact. I don’t want to comment on whether this increase is good or bad, but you can’t deflect from the facts,” he said.
Congressman Jairam Ramesh opposed the bill saying it was based on a completely flawed assumption. “After two generations, the population will remain stable or begin to decline. Rakesh Sinha’s bill is based on a completely flawed assumption. Except for the most unfortunate emergency period, family planning in India has been based on democratic means,” he said.