Yogi Adityanath unveils new population policy for Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday unveiled the new population policy 2021-30, on the occasion of World Population Day.

Through the proposed policy, efforts will be made to increase the accessibility of contraceptive measures issued under the Family Planning Programme and provide a proper system for safe abortion and on the other hand, through improved health facilities, efforts will be made for population stabilization by providing accessible solutions to impotence/infertility and reducing the infant and maternal mortality rate.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister 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 has an innovative proposal 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 State Law Commission has also prepared the draft of the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization, and Welfare) Bill-2021, on which the public can give suggestions till July 19.

In the draft of the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization, and Welfare) Bill-2021 issued by the State Law Commission, 'Bacche Do He Acche' has been highlighted.

According to the proposal, parents who limit their family to only two children and are in government service and undergoing voluntary sterilization will be given facilities like two additional increments, promotion, exemption in government housing schemes, increasing employer contribution in PF.

There are also provisions to provide exemptions in water, electricity, house tax, home loan, and other such facilities to couples with two children who are not in government jobs.

If the law is implemented, then within a year, all government officials, employees, and elected representatives of local bodies will have to give an affidavit that they will not violate this policy. Ration cards would be limited to four units.

It is proposed in the draft that the election can be cancelled if the rules are broken.

The single child will get preference in admission in all educational institutions including but not limited to the Indian Institute of Management and All India Institute of Management Science.

Free education up to graduation level, scholarship for higher studies in case of a girl child and preference to the single child in government jobs are other benefits which couples with a single child will receive.

The draft bill further explains, "(a) The personal law governing A allows polygamy. A has three wives B, C and D. A and B, A and C, and A and D shall be counted as three distinct married couple so far as the status of B, C and D is concerned but as far as the status of A is concerned, it shall be counted as one married couple for the purpose of calculation of cumulative number of children. For example, A has one child from B, two children from C and one child from D, the total number of children of A shall be four. (b) The personal law governing B allows polyandry. B has two husbands A and C. B and A shall be counted as one married couple. B and C shall be counted as another married couple."

This Act shall be called the Uttar Pradesh population (Control, stabilization and Welfare) Act, 2021, and it will extend to the whole of the state. It will come into force after one year from the date of publication in the Gazette.

A State Population Fund would be constituted, and it will be utilized to implement this Act.