Yogi unveils new population policy for UP amid criticism from opposition

Lucknow: Amid the draft bill of population control legislation prepared by State Law Commission has drawn flak from opposition parties,Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled the new population policy 2021-30 on Sunday, the day which is also observed as World Population Day,

The chief minister, speaking on the occasion said that bringing the bill is necessary to control and stabilize the population to promote sustainable development with more equitable distribution.He also underlined the need or creating awareness among the people on this issue

In the new Population Policy, a target has been set to bring the birth rate to 2.1 per thousand population by 2026 and to 1.9 by 2030.

One of the key points in the new policy is to make comprehensive arrangements for the care of the elderly, apart from better management of education, health, and nutrition of adolescents between 11 to 19 years. The period of Population Policy 2000-16 of the state has ended and now a new policy is the need of the hour.

The new policy says to set up 'Health Clubs' in schools with the awareness efforts for population stabilization, as well as a system for digital tracking of infants, adolescents, and elderly people in line with the spirit of the Digital Health Mission.

While preparing the new population policy, efforts have been made to maintain the - 'demographic balance in all the communities'; easy availability of advanced health facilities, and to bring down the maternal and child mortality rate to the minimum level through proper nutrition.

Meanwhile, the draft of the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization, and Welfare) Bill-2021 prepared by the State Law Commission on which the public can give suggestions till July 19 has attracted much criticism from oppostion parties.

According to the bill, people who violates the two-child policy will not be allowed to contest local bodies elections, apply for government jobs and receive any kind of government subsidy, according to the draft of the proposed population control bill put up on the state law commission website. The draft bill also prohibits promotions in government jobs for such people, while offering incentives to those limiting their children to two

The draft offers two additional increments for government employees who adopt the two-child norm during their service. Public servant who adopts the policy is offered Maternity or paternity leave of 12 months with full salary and allowances. They will also be eligible for a 3% increase in the employer's contribution fund under the national pension scheme.

The draft says that the government must ensure that there are maternity centres at all primary health centres and educate the population about family planning methods.These along with NGOs must distribute contraceptive pills and condoms. People are also supposed to register every pregnancy, delivery, and death in the state. The bill also asks the government to include population control in the secondary school syllabus to promote the two-child norm.

The Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission (UPSLC) website states that the State Law Commission is working on control, stabilisation, and welfare of the population of the state. A State Population Fund will be constituted for implementation of the act.

The draft also says that the state has limited ecological and economic resources at hand. Hence, it is necessary and urgent that the provision of necessities of human life including affordable food, safe drinking water, decent housing, access to quality education, economic/livelihood opportunities, power/electricity for domestic consumption, and a secure living is accessible to all citizens.

If enacted, the provisions of the proposed legislation will come into force after one year from the date of publication in the Gazette, according to UPSLC website. The provision of this legislation shall apply to a married couple where the boy is not less than 21 years of age and the girl is not less than 18

Meanwhile, The draft bill drew flak from the opposition parties on Saturday, with the Congress alleging it was intended to serve the BJP's "political agenda" ahead of next year's assembly elections in UP.

Reacting to the draft bill, Samajwadi Party MLC Ashutosh Sinha said, "Bringing this bill means the murder of democracy. This is an immature decision on the part of the Uttar Pradesh government."

Calling it BJP's "political agenda" ahead of the assembly polls, UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh in a Hindi tweet said, "The RSS and BJP leaders talk about increasing the population. Population control is a subject of the Centre. Yogi Adityanath (CM) is bringing the bill keeping in mind the UP Assembly elections."

The UP government, however, said it will also announce a new population policy for 2021-2030 on Sunday to incentivise people to help in population control. According to an official statement, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be releasing the New Population Policy 2021-30 on the occasion of World Population Day July 11.

Population control legislations are a political hot potato in the country, and recently Assam, another BJP-ruled state, had announced that it will gradually implement a two-child policy for availing benefits under specific schemes funded by the state