Legal, All about the Act

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This Blog is written by Bhumi Sharma from Amity Law School, Madhya Pradesh. Edited by Debargha Mukherjee.

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INTRODUCTION

The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2020 as introduced in Rajya Sabha on February 7, 2020 is a bill to further amend the Constitution of India. The fact that the population of India has already crossed over 125 crores is really frightening. The country has doubled its population in just 40 years and is expected to overtake China by the year 2050. As per the UN Report, India, Nigeria and Pakistan are the countries which have the highest population growth rate. India’s current yearly growth rate is 1.02 per cent. The country has a population density of 416 people per sq. km, which ranks 31^st in the world. Despite the fact that we have already framed a Population Control Policy, we are the 2^nd most populous country in the world. Today, there is a greater need to keep a strong check on the population growth rate. [1]

This ever-increasing rate of population in India is the root of most of the problems like poverty, starvation and malnutrition, exploitation or overuse of natural resources, etc. For this, there is also a need to encourage the people.  The need for the hour is to control the population and in light of the aforementioned problems, a private member bill is to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha i.e. Population Control Bill, 2020.

The Bill was introduced by BJP MP Rakesh Sinha, in order to promote smaller family norms of up to two children per couple in order to control the insurmountable pressure on resources and development due to the overburdening populace. The goal of the proposed legislation was to stabilize the population in lieu of the needs of the national economy, ranging from social, economic, health or developmental needs, inter alia.  The Bill aimed to penalize those people who were having more than two children by cutting off the facilities available to them. [2]

SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS DEVELOPMENT

A private member bill is to be introduced to enforce a two-child policy in the country i.e. Population Control Bill, 2020. This bill not only includes the benefits for the ones adhering to the rules and regulations of bills but also some disadvantages for the ones not following the proposed policy.  The objective of the bill is stated in as “providing the measure to control the population of the country and matters and incidents related thereto”.

The Population Control Bill, 2020 offers some financial benefits to the couples adhering to this two-child policy. The couple having only one child and if undergoes sterilisation operation on their own then the government will provide them the benefits according to the single child preference. The bill also calls upon the Central Government to set up a National Population Stabilisation Fund in order to ensure that contraceptives are available at reasonable rates at sub-health centres.

The Bill also aims to reward those who act in accordance with the norm and seeks to provide financial incentives to such couples who undergo voluntary sterilization. He suggests that the Centre give a lump-sum amount of Rs 60,000 if the single child is a boy or Rs 1 lakh if the child is a girl.

In order to prevent procreation of children, the Bill states that after one year of the commencement of the Act (if it comes into the picture), all employees of the central government would have to give an undertaking in writing to not procreate more children [3]. If any employee’s actions are found to be violative of the provisions of the said legislation, they should be liable for dismissal from service.

As for the recruitments, the Centre would give preference to those candidates who have two or less than two living children. The Bill also mandates compulsory subject of population control in all senior secondary schools, and in states where the average fertility rate is more than the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. [4]

The proposed legislation, if passed, would be the first in line to work in the area of family planning through serious efforts to control the population. The National Population Policy which came in the year 2000 had its objective to stabilize population by 2045. [5] However, on the whole, this goal is still not achieved and is still a distant dream that it would be in the near future.

However, certain states in the country like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan already have a two-child norm in place for governmental jobs. [6] The challenges to the policy still remain. In spite of such measures in place, India’s Total Fertility Rates have not been able to achieve a replacement level of 2.1.

 

IMPACT

Positive

The natural resources are now very limited. There has been already an overuse and exploitation of these resources. Soon, there will be a scarcity of water, food, etc. People will starve and malnutrition rates will go on increasing. This is high time; our government needs to take strict actions in order to control the ever-increasing population growth rate now.

The advantage of introducing and taking into the action of this bill is not only to the nation worldwide but to the individuals as well. It could be referred from above that this bill brings a lot of incentives to the couples be it the below poverty line or the above poverty ones.

Educational benefits: If a family has two or less than two children then both of them can get a good quality education. When there are more children then due to poor financial conditions only one or two of them are able to get education barely. But under this bill couples adhering to the rules will get benefits such as admission of their children in good schools by the government.

Better employment opportunities: This bill ensures government job opportunities to the ones adopting this policy and the preference will be given to them while recruiting.

Less exploitation of resources: If the population growth will be in control it will lead to lower demand for resources which will consequently result in the proper utilisation of natural resources.

Other Benefits: There will be many more benefits such as tax cuts, free health care, various government subsidies, and all this will help in eradicating most of the problems like poverty. Hence, population control is the need of the hour and will contribute to the development of the country.

Negative

Every coin has two sides. This bill does not define what it actually demands, whether a smaller rate of growth, smaller population size, or fewer people of a kind. The country in which we live is not that friendly, the rich make fun of the poor. Instead of making the lower strata people understand about the contraceptives and perks of having two or less than two children. Most of the people belonging to lower strata of the society have more than two children, they are not much aware about how the contraceptives are used, they want a male child, and are unaware of the problems which they can prevent by having a small family.

So, this bill will be a disproportionate one and will target the poor and marginalized groups; because of illiteracy, lack of opportunity, and awareness. Due to their lack of awareness, they will be debarred from the government job opportunities, good education system and moreover this bill penalises the ones not adhering to it.

The one-child policy in other countries was resulting in some undesirable incidents like sex-selective abortions, depressed fertility levels, labour shortage, and much more.

Even when we didn’t have this policy till now then also people in India are involved in sex-determination practice and they abort if it’s a female child. Most of the couples just throw away their female child on-road or in the trash box. The introduction of this bill might result in a greater number of such cases, so the law-makers need to keep every aspect of the country in mind while enforcing the law.

STATUTORY PROVISIONS

The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution with a view to make a provision by the State to encourage the people to keep their family limited to only two children.

Anil Desai (Shiv Sena MP) proposes to amend Constitution and the said Act will be called the Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2020 in which he introduces Article 47A which states:

47A – Duty of the State to promote small family norm. 

‘‘The State shall promote small family norms by offering incentives in taxes, employment, education, etc. to its people who keep their family limited to two children and shall withdraw every concession from and deprive such incentives to those not adhering to small family norm, to keep the growing population under control.’’ [7]

Some of the key features of this bill are as follows:

• Section 5 states about the forming of the District Population Stabilisation Committee to monitor and work in order to fulfil the purpose of the bill or policy proposed.

• Section 6 of the bill mentions the other benefits for the one having a single child and voluntarily undergoes sterilisation. They will be given first preference for government jobs and admission in the institute of higher education also and many other benefits.

• Section 7 talks about the incentives to the couple having one child but are living below the poverty line and voluntarily undergoes sterilisation then the centre will give them an amount of sixty thousand rupees in case of a boy and Rs. 1 Lakh in case the single child is a girl. This will strengthen the financial health of that family which might lead them towards a better life and moreover it will help in controlling the population growth.

• Section 8 talks about debarring the couples not adhering to the two-child policy. The couples having more than two children will be debarred from contesting or getting elected in Rajya Sabha, State Legislature, Panchayat, and other similar elective bodies. They won’t get a promotion in government service and also would not be allowed to apply to ‘Group A’ jobs neither in Central nor in State Government. Moreover, they will be deprived of government subsidies, in the case if the couple belongs to the Above Poverty Line group.

• Section 9 states about introducing a subject compulsorily relating to population control in senior secondary schools of those states where the average fertility rate is higher than that of replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. This is in order to create awareness among the people and students about the benefits relating to the population control and the incentives offered to the one adhering to the rules and regulations mentioned in the policy.

• Section 10 mentions the formation of a national population stabilisation fund by the Central Government. The objective behind creating this fund is to redistribute the money collected to the States and Union Territories who have successfully implemented the policy and followed the reforms constituted to control the population and have succeeded in making a significant reduction in their population growth rate.

• Section 11 talks about providing appropriate funds by parliament whenever needed in order to carry out the purpose of the act.

• Section 12 is for the central government employees. After one year of commencement of the act, it is a duty of all the employees to submit an undertaking in writing that they will adhere to the policy and will not procreate more than two children, along with the proviso mentioning about the employees already having more than 2 children at the commencement of the act will also submit an undertaking that they shall not procreate any more children after this. And violation of this will lead to the dismissal of the employee.

• Section 13 talks about the Central Government’s preference for the employee having two or less than two children while recruiting employees. So, people will follow the policy strictly in order to get a government job.

• Section 14 provides the power to the Central Government to make appropriate rules to carry out the purpose from time to time.

• Section 15 empowers to override the laws and shall have an effect on anything inconsistent therewith.[8]

ANALYSIS

Though the intent of this legislation is pious and essential in the present context in order to control and reduce the surge in population growth in our country, it fails to address certain key aspects that should have been included within the ambit of the Bill. The undermentioned are some concerns, in my opinion, that should be addressed during the debates if the legislation is tabled for further discussion-

1) As atrocious as the one-child policy of China was, even the two-child policy could have some serious repercussions on the reproductive health of women. Moreover, reproduction and biological processes are not an on-off switch which can be monitored.

2) The disadvantages to the child born out of the two-child policy are horrendous.

• The denial of equal status as their peers.
• Shunning from society.
• The guilt and shame of being born unplanned or due to any other reason may be so.

3) Monitoring of abortions and unwanted pregnancies would be tougher and if the policy is implemented without such measures not being discussed and debated, the women carrying such babies would have to adopt for such abhorrent measures which would be detrimental to not only her health but the child too.

These concerns have not been addressed and as easy as the policy sounds, implementing one would be difficult and the side effects take over the benefits and the aim behind the legislation proposed, provided it is passed and enacted .If such a policy is passed, all such points must be addressed and encapsulated in it.

The best possible way is educating the people about the importance of planned parenthood and the availability of contraceptive measures to one and all. For that, it’s high time that the taboo behind sex is shunned. A society can only progress when its citizens are the frontrunners driving the wheel and direction of the country and it’s essential that the citizens act now.

CONCLUSION

The Population Control Policy is applied to everyone irrespective of religion, race, caste, and colour. It just focuses on stabilising the growth rate of the population in our country. It has provided many incentives including free healthcare, tax cuts, other payments to the couples following the two-child policy, and also the ones having a single child have other benefits as well.

These all contribute to the benefit of the nation and natural resources. But as nothing serves everyone. Similarly, the introduction of this population control bill is not going to serve everyone and this might get worse in lower groups resulting in the burden over women or abandonment of a female child. So, there must be proper awareness amongst all people about the pros and cons of the bill one will have. This bill should come into action but should contain the provisions keeping in mind all the groups in India.

REFERENCE

[1] https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/politics/congress-mp-singhvi-to-move-population-control-bill-in-rajya-sabha.html

[2] https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/tag/insertion-of-new-article-47-a/

[3] Section 12, Population Control Bill, 2019

[4] http://lawtimesjournal.in/population-control-bill-2020-is-going-to-be-introduced-in-rajya-sabha/

[5] Prabhash K Dutta, Is the two-child policy a realistic goal in India? India Today, 23rd October 2019, URL < https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/is-two-child-policy-a-realistic-goal-in-india-1612148-2019-10-23 >, assessed on 26th Mar 2020

[6] Two-Child Policy: Is ‘Two-Child Policy’ Required For India, 25th October 2019, URL < https://www.jatinverma.org/two-child-policy-is-two-child-policy-required-for-india >, assessed on 26th Mar 2020

[7] https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2020/02/11/the-constitution-amendment-bill-2020-introduced-in-rajya-sabha-bill-to-encourage-two-child-policy/

[8] Supra 4.