Population control is a massive problem in our country therefore in view of this problem the Uttar Pradesh government has proposed a Population Control Bill,2021. After so many years of independence, in India Uttar Pradesh(UP) has become the first state to take measures for controlling population.

The new draft of Population Control Bill,2021 , promotes a two-child policy, violation of which would mean people will be debarred from contesting local body elections, applying for government jobs or receiving any government subsidy. According to the Uttar Pradesh government this law is important because there are limited resources in our country such as safe drinking water, affordable food, decent housing, access to quality education, economic opportunities, electricity and a secure living is accessible to all citizens.

After so many years of independence, in India Uttar Pradesh (UP) has become the first state to take measures for controlling population. The new draft of Population Control Bill,2021 , promotes a two-child policy, violation of which would mean people will be debarred from contesting local body elections, applying for government jobs or receiving any government subsidy.

According to the Uttar Pradesh government this law is important because there are limited resources in our country such as safe drinking water, affordable food, decent housing, access to quality education, economic opportunities, electricity and a secure living is accessible to all citizens. In a statement, Adityanath said that overpopulation is the "root cause" of many major issues, including inequality and poverty. 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 UN projections, India will soon surpass China to become the world's most populous country, with nearly 1.5 billion people. Close to 812 million Indians (roughly 60% of the population) still live below the poverty line, without access to basic resources such as food and shelter. According to the bill the government duties will be to establishing maternity centres at all primary health centres.

These centres will distribute contraceptives like pills and condoms and also spread awareness about family planning methods. The Draft proposes to use sterilisation operations, tubectomy or vasectomy. They will also have to ensure mandatory registration of pregnancies, deliveries, births and deaths across the state. It is important to understand that even if all the couples in UP will start having two children from tomorrow, the population will continue to grow.

This is because of the large number of young people in the state. The population is growing not because couples have more children, but because we have many more young couples today. Experts studies and previous data indicates that this policy may not be much effective because one third of the population of UP is youth and we will not get the desired result from this law.

It is also unfair to bar poor people from government schemes and incentives because sometimes it is due to the extreme poverty, less education and awareness and also the inability to afford the contraceptive measures or abortion. In South India, Kerala and Karnataka have seen a dip in the fertility rates which is due to the education and awareness, therefore the UP government should also focus on the education and awareness to the people for population control as it will also protect the rights of the people.

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.The Samajwadi Party (SP) has called the population control policy "election propaganda" - in view of the impending assembly polls in the state - as have political analysts. Congress's Salman Khurshid has said politicians should declare the number of children they have. As it happens, data on the Uttar Pradesh Legislative

Assembly website suggests more than 50% of MLAs in the UP assembly where the BJP holds 304 of 403 seats have more than two children. More than half of the BJP MLAs have three or more children. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati said Adityanath's move has been motivated only by the elections. According to her, the government should have started "spreading awareness among people immediately after forming the government" if it was serious about managing the population.

The proposed law is not only unnecessary and harmful but can potentially lead to political and demographic disaster.

Written By: Samridhi Sharma, B.com LLB - Chandigarh University, Ghauran