The Uttar Pradesh government recently released the new population policy for 2021-2030 on the occasion of World Population Day. 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 state's total fertility rate is 2.7 percent currently.
While unveiling the policy at the inauguration event, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that there should be a gap between two children in order to control the population in the state.
The unveiling of the policy came days after a draft of the population control bill had been put up on the state law commission website.
He further said that an increasing population supervened the development of the state and more efforts are needed to control it.
"Across the world, from time to time, concerns have been expressed that increasing population can be a hurdle in development, and for the past four decades discussions on it are going on. Population growth is also related to poverty. Every community has been taken care of in Population Policy 2021-2030," Adityanath said.
"The countries and states which have made efforts in this direction have seen positive results. However, more efforts are needed in this regard," he said, adding that the UP government was implementing this policy, keeping in mind all sections of society.
New Population Policy Draft
A draft for population control legislation was released earlier in the public domain. Through the proposed policy, efforts will be made to increase the accessibility of contraceptive measures issued under the Family Planning Programme and provide an appropriate system for safe abortion.
It also 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.
Comprehensive arrangements will be made for the care of the elderly, apart from better management of education, health, and nutrition of adolescents between 11 to 19 years.
‘Health Clubs’ in schools will be formed, which aim for making arrangements for digital tracking of newborns, adolescents, and elderly people.