The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam has proposed strict population control laws. The draft policy introduced by the state government states that those marrying before attaining minimum legal age or having more than two children will not be eligible for various benefits of government schemes – including jobs.
Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, said, “Persons will not be eligible to apply for government jobs and for that matter any kind of government service including that of becoming members of the panchayat and civic bodies.”
According to the minister, Assam is facing a dangerous “population explosion” and this is one of the several measures that the government have proposed in the draft population policy. “Families with more than two children will also not be eligible for various benefits under different government schemes,” said Sarma.
According to the Census 2011 data, the state’s population rose from 2.66 crore in 2001 to 3.11 crore in 2011. The population growth of Assam between this decade was 16.9 – two per cent less the growth rate between 1991 and 2001. Despite this, the BJP led government found the population growth alarming. Sarma said, “a preliminary analysis has shown that it has increased by one crore in 16 years between 2001 and 2017. This increase is unacceptable.” He further added that child marriage, especially in tea gardens and tribal areas, was the key reason behind the alarming trends.
Reportedly, the draft policy is being viewed as BJP’s attempt to control population growth of Bengali-speaking Muslim immigrants. According to the Hindustan Times, the state has witnessed the highest increase in Muslim population from 30.9 per cent in 2001 to 34.2 people cent in a decade and has a majority in nine districts.
However, the government is not rushing to implement the policy. It has sought public suggestions on the draft population policy after which the policy will be placed in the state assembly in August.
“We will go through the entire process and want it to be in place before the term of our government expires in 2021,” Sarma said.