Open Access Research Article
POPULATION CONTROL BILL: A MUCH NEEDED LEGISLATION
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Article Details
POPULATION
CONTROL BILL: A MUCH NEEDED LEGISLATION
AUTHORED BY - SHIVAM MISHRA,
Assistant
Professor,
Chamanlal Law
College (Veer Madho Singh Bhandari Technical University,
Dehradun, U.K., India
Abstract
India
is a land of diversities there are multi lingual multi ethnic diverse
population lives in India. Due to so much diversity in India there is
demographic distinction in the society. To maintain this unique diversity it is
necessary that each member of the Indian Society should have his resource secured.
The population of India is a big problem in the way of securing its citizens
their proportionate due of resources .Due to unproportionate distribution of
resources there are chances of collision between the different sections of
society that in a long run can be very harmful to the society .To solve this
problem Population control bill have been proposed in the Rajya Sabha 2 times
in 2019 and 2021.But unfortunately this
bill has not taken the shape of legislation .Due to Vote bank policies of the
different political parties this bill has not been passed until now. This paper
deals with different provisions that are present in constitution of India that
indicates the need of population control bill, what are the advantages this
bill will achieve are and the precautions to be taken before implementing it.
I)
Introduction
As
I have already discussed in the above section that to maintain the egalitarian
society in which all the residents of the country will secure their share, a
regulation on Population is very much needed. Our country is multiple
religious, multiple ethnic and multilingual society that have different
cultures and different personal laws. To maintain this diversity there is need
of some uniformity in securing their livelihood and other services. To maintain
the dignity of Individual it is necessary that our population must be
stabilized in order to reach goal of developed India, because if there are no
limit on population every resource will be exhausted and nothing is left for
future. Our country has enough of resources but not unlimited as said by the
Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's
needs, but not every man's greed.”
According
to statistics India is the second most populated country in the world. India’s
share to world population is approx 17% which is a big number for any
developing country. Although it has some positive aspects like India has one of
the youngest population in the world with an average national age of
approximately 29 years, while 41 per cent of our population is below 18 years
of age. If provided with right education, employment and technical skills this
population can play an important role in Nation building and development. But
after certain limit this overpopulation can lead to population explosion and has
detrimental effects on the country.
II) Need for
population control
Every
excess leads to destruction. Any Nation’s progress majorly depends on the
economic growth of the country. To economically develop a country the major
step is future planning, and every plan works for a certain population and
population growth and by managing the resources accordingly. If there will be
outburst of population how will the plan work, so to plan the resources
according the population we need a sustainable population then only the surplus
will be used for the infrastructural development of the country, and this is
the major cause why India needs Population control. Let us discuss the few
points about the need for population control here as under:-
i) Capital
Formation- Due to high birth rate and low expectancy of life there is an
increase of dependants in the total population of India. In India 35% of
population is of people less than 14 years of age. They are unproductive consumers,
these people does not contribute to the nation’s economy, They are mainly
responsible for the low rate of saving, low investment rate, and low rate of
capital formation since they are not employed and do not receive remuneration
to invest, save or partake in capital formation1[1].
ii) Per Capita
Income-Due to overpopulation despite having increase of 3.6 % in India’s
National Income between 1950-51 to 1980-81 the per capita income has increase
only about 1 % .This low growth rare is due to the fact that population growth
has increased by 2.5 per cent. This sluggish growth rate of per
capita income has resulted from a high population growth rate despite high
national income in specific years.
iii) Increase in
Unemployment- Due to increase in population there is an increase in
unemployment .The major challenge is how to provide the unemployment to youth
every year and how to reduce the accumulated unemployed from the previous years.
For a developing country like India it is very challenging task to manage the
limited capital resources by giving employment to the youth and also use it for
the infrastructure building of the Nation. Disguised unemployment in rural areas
and open unemployment in urban areas are the standard hallmarks of a developing
country like India. With the growth in the labour force at an average annual
rate of 2.4 per cent, there is only a slight possibility of reducing
unemployment for years to come.
iv) Poverty as
a Major Hindrance to Development- In the face of an ever-growing population,
inequitable distribution of income and inequalities within the country broaden.
The growing population is deepening poverty in India as there is a scarcity of resources
which is also concentrated in the hands of a few. Also, people have to spend a
large share of their resources for bringing up their dependents.
v) Maternity
welfare – In India due to high birth rate and unmatched facilities in Hospitals
there is very high mortality rate .Less gaps between the birth if child is also
very major cause of high mortality of infants and also it has adverse effects
on the mother. This leads to a high death rate among women of procreative
age due to early marriage. Hence to improve the welfare and stature of women in
our society, we have to lessen the birth rate.
vi) Over
population and its effects on Environment- High growth of Population has very
degrading effect of environment. High generation of toxic waste has bad impact
on Air quality index that leads to air pollution, effects on water by effluents
from industry leads to water pollution, and the deposition of waste in soil
leads to soil pollution. Ultimately these types of pollutants lead to severe
destruction of biosphere. A significant cause of biodiversity loss has been the
depletion of vegetation to grow agriculture by the rapidly surging population
vii)
Scarcity of resources and services- The rapid rise in
population puts a massive burden on infrastructures like health care,
education, housing, water supply, sanitation, power, roads, and railways.
Infant mortality is already relatively high. Malnourishment in children is
widespread. Ample villages are devoid of any source of drinking water in India
due to the scarcity of financial resources. India has not provided many
essential services adequately due to a significant increase in population.
India has the largest illiterate population in the world. There is mass
illiteracy among women, especially in rural areas. The goal of education for
all is far away.
viii)
Standard of living- Rapid population growth is to be
blamed for India’s low standard of living. Even the bare necessities of life
are not available adequately since resource distribution has been a major
issue.
ix) Social
problems - Population explosion leads to a rise of several social problems. It
causes the migration of people from rural areas to urban areas, causing the
creation of slum areas. People live in the most unhygienic circumstances.
Unemployment and poverty lead to frustration and resentment among the literate
youth. This leads to robbery, prostitution and crimes. The terrorist
movements that we find today in numerous sections of the country exhibit
frustration amidst unemployed professional youth. Overcrowding, traffic
congestion, frequent accidents and pollution in large cities are the immediate
result of overpopulation
Parliamentary debates on Population Bill
A few years
back, the Prime Minister expressed concern over the
prospect of a ‘population explosion’ in India in his address to the nation on
Independence Day and said that keeping small families was patriotic. It has
since sparked a keen interest and debate on population control policies. The
two-child policy has been presented in the Parliament over 35 times since 1947.
Key points of the debate on the population control bill are as follows:
·
Procreation, reproduction and family planning are
sensitive and private facets of every citizen’s life. The rights and liberties
in these aspects must be assiduously protected from groundless invasion.
·
Nevertheless, the government needs to implement
population control policies to solve many issues such as poverty and the lack
of satisfactory social and health services that torment India presently.
However, a law for this purpose would always be questioned of its
constitutionality.
·
A policy to control and monitor the number of children
a family is allowed to have is a crass infringement of human rights and the
right to a citizen’s reproductive autonomy. A right to reproduction is not
explicitly written in the Constitution,
but It falls under the purview of Article 21 (right to life and right to personal
liberty). This kind of policy would strip individuals of their fundamental
right to life, personal liberty and personal autonomy which includes
reproductive rights, which involves making sexual, intimate, private and
reproductive choices.
·
Indeed, the government has already found valid reasons
to intervene in various spheres pertaining to procreation, family, personal,
private and sexual life. Polygamy is against the law, adultery was just
recently decriminalized, there is a minimum age requirement for marriage, and
the state decides upon what grounds couples may legally divorce. Consequently,
it is inexact to say that the government has not previously intervened in
private matters and the sexual conduct of its citizens. It is just that the aim
is different when it comes to population control.
·
There is a requirement for alternative laws that may
confront constitutional scrutiny. For population control legislation to work,
it would require the fabrication of innovative and compelling grounds that
affect the ability of people to think a certain way without encroaching upon
the rights and the Constitution. This will have to be conducted by united efforts
to propagate contraceptives and family planning awareness.
·
Decisions regarding procreation and the size of a
family are very personal choices and the privacy of citizens must be
maintained. Therefore, stringent population laws are against the notion of
fundamental rights and another approach is required to curb population. Health
awareness and financial burdens of a large family must be propagated to all and
especially to the poor and the less fortunate.
Countries that have population control laws
Population control in the People’s Republic of China
One-child policy
China has the
largest population on earth. Fearing that overpopulation would hinder their economic development,
the Chinese government in 1979 implemented a one child per family policy. Per the policy, pregnant couples
were required to file for a family planning service certificate. Then the
government issued a birth permit through a complex procedure, making the task
of having a baby more difficult. The government treated the applicant’s mother
and father with intense scrutiny. The Chinese government uses an identification
number to keep track of the wombs in China. If parents did not acquire the
certificate before the child’s birth, the hospital would not circulate a birth
certificate, and thus, there would be no legal document or record of the
child’s birth. These methods discourage people in China from having more
children. The Chinese government deems reproduction as a privilege it awards
only upon the citizen’s accomplishment of their duties towards the state. Once
a couple has been granted the right to have a child, they must use
contraception to block further pregnancies. Because China’s society has deeply
inherent patriarchal customs, the burden for contraception falls primarily on
the woman. Officials typically granted certain types of contraception, namely
intrauterine devices (IUDs) and tubal ligation. These methods are easily
checked, lasting, and offer bureaucratic expediency. Ordinances urged women
with one child to use IUDs and those with two children to undergo tubal
ligation.
Two child policy
Then in 2016, China eradicated its decades-long one-child policy to
combat an ageing society and narrowing workforce. Espoused couples could have
two children and no longer had to appeal for a family planning service
certificate. While the relaxation did result in some improvement in the
proportion of young people in the country, the policy change was deemed
insufficient in averting an impending demographic crisis.
Three child policy
A shrinking working-age population and
a growing retired population would hamper China’s economic growth and strain social
services. The one-child policy also led to selective sex-based abortions,
causing a sex imbalance to form over time. Therefore from May 2021, couples in China will be allowed to
have up to three children, as policymakers seek to address the country’s long-term
demographic imbalances.
Population control in Indonesia
Indonesia has one of the most robust
and most thriving national family planning initiatives in the world. With the
aid of Muslim leaders, the country doubled its contraceptive ubiquity rate to
nearly 60 per cent between 1976 and 2002. It
halved its fertility rate from 5.6 to 2.6 children per woman. This
unquestionably helped lay the foundation for Indonesia’s rapid and effective
annual economic growth of at least 5 per cent since 1980. Among other things,
the government authorized to:
·
Strengthen the program at district levels to
sustain local access to family planning.
·
Render family planning services and supplies
free of charge as part of the country’s Universal Health Coverage Program started
in January 2014.
·
Boost health worker training efforts,
particularly around long-acting reversible processes.
·
Refine 23,500 family planning clinics by the
end of the year.
· A
much more substantial budget supports these endeavors. This outreach will be
joined with the “Right Time, Right Method, My Choice”
mass media and social media campaign, which intends to reach 2.9 million women of
conceptive age in the target areas through radio, TV, print and online outlets.
The government is also optimizing Smartphone apps to reduce obstacles to
obtaining reliable and timely family planning knowledge, including information
on health centers and providers.
Conclusion and Suggestions
This is a high time for a country like
India which is having 17 % of world population to enact population control bill
in order to regulate the population. The unmanageable population will result in
population explosion. The dangerously growing population will be a threat to
the development of the country. No development scheme will work if there is so many
burdens are laid on the limited resources of the country. There will be
considerable loss of lives due to inadequate sanitation facilities will be
expected .Environment will be destroyed and the standard of living will degrade.
From time to time the governments have tried to limit the population by
adopting different measures of control. But there is no good outcome has
received which is a indication of danger.
So now it is a time that governments
should adopt strict measures in a democratic way to ensure the proper control
on the population. Every section of the society must be taken into confidence
before passing any Population Control Bill.
Article Information
POPULATION CONTROL BILL: A MUCH NEEDED LEGISLATION
Authors: SHIVAM MISHRA
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/09/27
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
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