PROUT

Politics Over Population:

Political parties raise the population issue because they need to deliver services and resolve problems hindering better lives for the people, easing traffic jams, better law and order, transport, healthcare or better income etc. When policy-makers fail, the rising population alarm works as a shield for them. Right-of-the centre parties have been observed in countries worldwide to be more vocal – rather militant – about population growth. They target one section of society for increasing the population to derive political dividend.

In his 2019 Independence Day address, breaking from the past four decades of silence, Prime Minister Modi used the term ‘population explosion’. But Modi set the debate on a new trajectory. He equated population control to patriotism. In July 2019, Rakesh Sinha, BJP Rajya Sabha MP, tabled the Population Regulation Bill as a private member. The proposed bill intends to penalise people for having more than two children. Over several years, many states have already enacted penal provisions to control the population or encourage smaller families. However, the reality is, India is depopulating, and such measures are counter-productive and may reverse the gains made so far.