Modi govt will soon bring in population control law in preparation for new law: Union Minister Prahlad Patel's big announcement
Speaking at a poor welfare convention in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, Union Food Processing Minister Prahlad Patel has made an important announcement. Minister Prahlad Singh Patel on Tuesday claimed that the Union government would soon introduce a bill for population control in the country. When asked by reporters about the law, the Union Minister said that the population control bill would come soon. Don't worry. While such big and strong decisions are being taken, the rest will come soon. Speaking at the Poor Welfare Convention in Raipur, Union Food Processing Minister Prahlad Patel has made an important announcement.
Population Control: How important is the Population Control Act for India?
Two or three children are good at home ... we two, our two ... small family happy family ... Hindu or Muslim, one family one child ... these are the slogans to bring awareness in India. From time to time, the Government of India and social organizations conveyed it to the people by writing on the walls or through advertisements and advertisements.
There is no doubt that the effect was seen among the people too, but it was not as successful as expected. At present the population of India is around 135 crores. There has also been a demand for a population control law from time to time. This demand gained momentum after the BJP-led NDA government came to power at the Center in 2014.
Preparing to bring law in UP: According to the draft of the proposed Population Control Bill of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, those who violate the policy of two children in Uttar Pradesh can contest local body elections, apply for government jobs, promotions and any other way. Access to government subsidies will be denied. The State Law Commission has drafted the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill-2021.
The draft states that public servants (government servants) who adopt the standard of two children will receive two additional increments during maternity or paternity throughout the service. Apart from this, there is also talk of 12 months leave with full pay and allowances under the National Pension Scheme and a 3 per cent increase in the employer's contribution fund.
Opposition to the law also: Opposition to the periodic demand is based on the premise that the law is being framed with Muslims in mind. Some so-called Hindu organizations are also chanting 'Hum 5 hamare 25'. Sambhal Samajwadi Party MLA Iqbal Mehmood also stood against him amid the law-making turmoil in UP. He said the Muslim population in the country has not increased. Dalits and tribals are increasing the population, while the government is attacking Muslims under the guise of population law.
Population Regulation Bill, 2019: The Population Regulation Bill, 2019 was introduced in 2019 by RSS ideologue Rakesh Sinha. It was a private member's bill. The bill proposes to penalize those who have more children and deprive them of all government benefits. At the time, some said the poor would be badly affected, while others said the bill was anti-Muslim.
Commission formed in 2000: The Venkatachaliya Commission, formed in 2000 by the BJP-led Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA government, recommended legislation for population control. The Commission submitted its report to the Central Government on 31 March 2002.
The commission was headed by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice MN Venkatachalia and comprised of Justice RS Sarkaria, Justice Jeevan Reddy and Justice K Punnaiya. Former Attorney General K Parasaran and Soli Sorabji, Lok Sabha General Secretary Subhash Kashyap, former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma, then MP Sumitra Kulkarni, senior journalist CR Irani and senior diplomat Abid Hussain, who were also part of the US in India.
Upadhyay gave a presentation: In the year 2018, BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, a lawyer in the Supreme Court, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2018 seeking a discussion on the Population Control Act in Parliament. Upadhyay also gave a presentation on population control in PMO in 2018. He also mentioned the Venkatachalia Commission in his presentation. Going a step further, Hindu Raksha Sena national president Mahamandleshwar Prabodhanand Giri wrote a letter to Modi saying that he had advocated the abolition of citizenship if there were more than two children. In the past, BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav had also raised the issue of population explosion in the Rajya Sabha.
Emergency Sterilization: During the Emergency of 1975, Indira Gandhi was targeted by the Opposition for her controversial decisions. During that time, however, there was strong criticism of compulsory sterilization of men for population control. Sanjay Gandhi, the son of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was indirectly responsible for the sterilization campaign. At that time, big jobs ranging from teachers were given the target to make the sterilization campaign a success. Salary cuts were also warned if the target was not met.
As a result, 62 lakh men were forcibly sterilized in a single year of the campaign. The atmosphere at that time was such that people hid in the fields and forests just by seeing a government vehicle in the rural areas. According to various reports, more than 2000 men also died due to negligence during sterilization. Famous author Salam The campaign is mentioned in Rushdie's book 'Midnight Children'.
Efforts were also made in Uttarakhand: In Uttarakhand too, in the year 2019, a provision was made in the Panchayat Act that candidates with more than 2 children would not be able to contest the Panchayat elections. An application was filed in the High Court against this decision, in response to which the court said that the cut-off date for implementation of this amendment is July 25, 2019. That is, a candidate with more than 2 children after this date will be disqualified from contesting the Panchayat elections, whereas those who have three children before 25 July 2019 can contest.
After China, India has the largest population in the world and if this trend continues, India will no doubt reach number one. However whenever such demands for population control arise it is given a religious color. Given the country's limited resources, employment opportunities and poverty, a universal solution must be found. Even if a law is made in this regard, it should not be made by targeting any particular religion or class, but the interest of the country should be given priority.
Minister Prahlad Patel said that the target of Jal Jeevan Mission is close to 50 per cent on an average. He said the state leadership could not even implement the central plans. Patel said the state government has so far met only 23 per cent of the targets of the Water Life Mission, while its national average is close to 50 per cent. The state already has a big water problem. Similarly, Chhattisgarh has not yet achieved the target of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Earlier in the program, while interacting with the beneficiaries of the central schemes, he enumerated the work done by the Modi government for the last eight years and said that service to the poor and welfare has been the priority of the central government.
25-Jun-2025