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India’s most populous state will distribute benefits to couples with two children, but will bar those with more children from public office or government jobs in a bill to control its population which is more than three times that of Great Britain.
Uttar Pradesh unveiled the proposals on World Population Day and set a July 19 deadline for suggestions to fine-tune the bill before it becomes law in the $ 220 million state. ‘inhabitants.
The state, which has a population density more than double the national average, said the policy aimed to significantly reduce the fertility rate by 2030.
“We have proposed that any couple who follow a two-child policy receive all government benefits,” said Uttar Pradesh Law Commission Chairman Aditya Nath Mittal.
The offer included soft loans, discounted utility bills, insurance, free health care, 12-month fully paid maternity or paternity leave and other measures.
Bonanza for a child
The project also says that officials who undergo sterilization after a child will receive two additional benefits and offers free health care, insurance and education for the unmarried child up to around age 20.
He also offered money to poorer parents opting for permanent birth control measures after a child.
But Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Forum), who is allied with India’s ruling BJP, which also rules Uttar Pradesh, opposed the one-child proposal, citing the volte-demographic policy. facing China.
“The one-child policy will lead to population contraction and that would not be beneficial – socially and economically beyond a certain point,” the forum said.
Commission Chairman Mittal added that the benefits and grants tray would be taken away from those who fancy more than two children.
“Their ration cards will be limited to four units; they will not be able to apply for government jobs and if they are already government employees then they will not get a promotion, ”Mittal said as quoted by the Hindustan Times.
Those who procreate more than two will also lose their right to participate in local elections, the project adds.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu monk, said it would help reduce poverty in the state, where unemployment has fallen in recent months.
“All over the world, concerns have been expressed from time to time that the increase in population is an obstacle to development,” he said during the deployment of the project on July 11.
Uttar Pradesh’s per capita income was a quarter of the 4,017 euros for the national capital Delhi in the fiscal year ended March 31, according to government data.
Warning from economists
Abhinav Prakash, professor of economics at Delhi University, stressed that population policies must be treated with delicacy.
“We have to be very careful because the Indian population is already slowing down without a population control policy as such,” Prakash told public broadcaster RSTV.
“We should not accelerate this slowdown because it would cause other problems if the demographic structure becomes unbalanced as we see in the case of China,” added the economist.
Adityanath’s political opponents attacked the bill, alleging it would divide communities.
Salman Khurshid, a former foreign minister, claimed the bill was a gimmick to curry favor with Hindu voters ahead of the provincial poll in 2022.
Right-wing Hindus fear Muslims will change the demographics in India, where they are the largest religious minority.
Once adopted, Uttar Pradesh will become the second BJP-led state to adopt a two-child policy
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