UP govt's proposal: Special incentives for people with 1 kid, disincentives for those with more than 2 children

Families with two children or less will be given incentive while non-adherence to the two-child norm will lead to disincentives in Uttar Pradesh. With an aim to control the population, the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission on Friday released the first draft of the bill that is focused on this objective. The government has sought comments from the public within ten days, that is by July 19, as per media reports. 

Earlier, CM Yogi Adityanath has said the government will bring in a new population policy for 2021-2030, which is expected to be announced on World Population Day on July 11.

Families with more than two kids will be debarred from availing state-sponsored welfare schemes and receiving subsidies, say sources. Other disincetives include bar on contesting local body elections, bar on applying for government jobs as well as a bar on promotion in government services. The rules will not apply to those who are already part of government jobs or local councils. Ration card units will also be limited up to four.

There will be incentives for anyone who adopts two-child norm by undergoing voluntary sterilization operation upon himself or spouse. This will include soft loan for construction or purchasing a house on nominal rates of interest and rebate on charges for utilities such as water, electricity and house tax. Those who undergo “voluntary sterilisation” after having one child will be given further benefits like free education up till graduation. 

Public servants will be entitled to additional increments during their service and a 3% increase in employer’s contribution fund under the National Pension Scheme, among others. Similarly, BPL couples will be entitled to a one-time lump sum amount of Rs 80,000 (for single boy child) and Rs 1 lakh (for single girl child) from the government if they limit the family to one child.

The draft law, which comes ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, said that it is necessary to control and stabilize the population due to limited resources in the state. "Poverty and illiteracy are major factors for population expansion. There is also a lack of awareness about population in certain communities and we therefore need community-centric awareness efforts,” CM Yogi Adityanath said in a statement, as per India.com. 

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