VHP Writes to UP Law Commission Opposing Some Sections of Draft Bill on Population Control

The Vishva Hindu Parishad says the incentivizing one-child policy will lead to “contraction of the population over time” and will have “several negative social and economic consequences”.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad on Monday (July 12) wrote to the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission opposing some parts of the proposed draft bill about population control in the state.

It has strongly opposed incentivizing the one-child policy, writing “a policy aiming at an average of less than 2 children per woman leads to a contraction of the population over time. Such contraction has several negative social and economic consequences.”

The Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission had on Friday (July 9) put out the draft bill on population control for public comment. Suggestions are invited till July 19. 

The draft bill proposes many measures to promote a two-child policy. It further incentivizes couples with single children.
Citing the example of China, the VHP says it implemented the one-child policy in 1980 but “within about three decades, it had to be completely withdrawn”.

Elaborating on the negative consequences of the one-child policy, the VHP notes “In the case of Uttar Pradesh, the one-child policy is likely to lead to furthering of the imbalance between different communities because they are known to respond differently to the incentives and disincentives related to family planning and contraception”.

The population growth imbalance is very stark between different communities in Assam and Kerala. “In both those States, the TFR of Hindus has declined far below the replacement rate of 2.1, but that of Muslims is 3.16 in Assam and 2.33 in Kerala.”

As a consequence, both in Kerala and Assam “one of the communities has thus entered the contraction phase while the other is still expanding”. 

The VHP says Uttar Pradesh should avoid getting into the problems of Assam and Kerala. 

It has noted that it agrees with the twin objectives of the bill: stabilizing the population and promoting the two-child norm. It disagrees with the route it wants to take to achieve the stated objectives.