| Demand of the question Introduction. Contextual Introduction. Body. Disadvantages of restrictive population policy. Conclusion. Way forward. |
India is set to be the largest populated country in the world. In past India’s population policy focused on incentives like offering money or gifts. There is an ongoing debate on introducing a two child policy in India from many decades. A two child policy is not only restrictive in nature but raise many social and ethical issues.
Why population policy should not be restrictive rather offer choice?
- Social Cost: Restrictions in form of stopping all government aid and subsidies to the family with more than prescribed number of child have great social costs.
- Restrictions may include stopping free and compulsory education to third child. This would be contrary to the constitutional Right to Education (Article 21A, Article 45 and 51A).
- Parents may be punished by depriving them of the opportunity to contest elections and apply for jobs. This would be contrary to the constitutional Right to Contest Elections and equal opportunities of jobs as envisaged in directive principles. It would create two sets of citizens, and thereby violate the constitutional Right to Equality.
- A study conducted in five states shows that the two-child norm was responsible for the largest number of disqualified candidates in panchayat elections. Of these, Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs formed an overwhelming 80%. This violates the 73rd amendment, which aims to give political representation to people from marginalised communities in democratic processes.
- Women abuse: Restrictive population policy has enormous bearing on women. International experience of restrictive population policy like China’s one child policy is not good.
- It would lead to increased cases of women abuse. Many women’s would be subjected to forced sterilisations or abortions. She may be harassed by in laws for not giving birth to son.
- Newborn girls would be killed or would be abandoned by parents.
- Women from neighbouring countries would also suffer as victims of human trafficking.
- Further a skewed sex-ratio will make it more difficult for young men to find wives.
- Son-preference in rural as well as urban India is well documented. A legal restriction to two children could force couples to go for sex-selective abortions as there are only two ‘attempts’.
- A study, conducted between 2001 and 2004 to explore the consequences of two-child norms in five states found an increase in cases of neglect and death of female infants, cases of pre-natal sex determination and induced abortion of female foetus, child given away for adoption etc.
- Economic Cost: As the fertility rate start declining, it will go below replacement level fertility rate of 2.1. It is difficult for restrictive population policies to keep a check at lowering fertility rate. Keeping fertility rate at 2.1 will be challenging, which is possible when people are given choice rather than restricted. A shrinking population will hamper economic growth. Above discussed social impact would also hinder economic growth.
- Ethical issues: Putting restrictive policy to control population is not ethical. It has bearing on reproductive rights of women. Also the effects are already evident in villages of states like Haryana and Punjab, leading to an unethical thriving bride business. It would lead to unethical abortion practices and pre-natal sex determination.
What should be done?
National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) reveals that women who have little access to health and education and those caught in a cycle of poverty, produce more and more children. Also the latest Economic Survey points out that states with high population growth are also the ones with the lowest per capita availability of hospital beds. Thus the Union government and states with a higher TFR, should focus on overall social development instead of coercive population control measures. They should provide an enabling environment in which couples voluntarily opt for, and feel safe about, limiting their family size.
