Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has issued instructions to form a high-level committee regarding population control. Dhami’s order has come days after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) suggested that a population control policy be introduced in Uttarakhand on the lines of those in place in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Assam.
For the population control law, SS Sandhu, the Chief Secretary of the state will be the chairman of the committee.
According to the Hindustan Times report, at least 35 affiliates of the RSS have claimed there was a rise in Muslim population in areas like Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital over the years, therefore the Sangh asked the state government to ensure “demographic balance”.
Last month, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adtyanath on July 18 unveiled the state’s Population Policy 2021-2030 on the occasion of World Population Day.
The draft bill of the population control bill said people having more than two children in Uttar Pradesh will be debarred from contesting local bodies polls, applying for government jobs or receiving any kind of subsidy.
The Uttar Pradesh Law Commission has received over 8,000 suggestions from across the country over a proposed draft bill for population control, so far.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of BJP-ruled Assam also termed population explosion as the “root cause of economic disparities and poverty among minority Muslims in Assam”.
Speaking in the state assembly, Sarma said, “Around 1,000 youths from the char chapori (riverine sand bars) will be engaged to create awareness about population control measures and to supply contraceptives”.
“If population growth among Hindus in Assam was 10 per cent from 2001 to 2011, it was 29 per cent among Muslims,” he added.
Assam is also considering a two-child policy for access to government schemes.
This story first appeared on livemint.com
