Indian State Presents China-Style ‘Two-Child Policy’ Bill

The government of northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state unveiled draft legislation on Sunday proposing a “two-child” policy that would punish couples who choose to have more than two children, India’s NDTV news site reported on Monday.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced the state’s new population control draft bill on July 11 shortly after state officials uploaded a copy of the document to the Uttar Pradesh government website.

“The Uttar Pradesh government will give [job] promotions, [salary] increments, concessions in housing schemes and others perks to [state] employees who adhere to population control norms, and have two or less children,” the draft legislation, titled the “Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021,” states.

Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission Chairman Justice A.N. Mittal told India Today TV on July 10 the bill “proposes to bar the violators of the two-child policy from contesting local body elections or applying for government jobs.”

“Public servants who adopt the two-child norm will get two additional [salary] increments during [his or her] entire service [to the state], maternity or as the case may be, paternity leave of 12 months, with full salary and allowances and three percent increase in the employer’s contribution fund under the [Indian] National Pension Scheme,” according to the draft bill.

Uttar Pradesh residents “who are not government employees and still contribute towards keeping the population in check, will get benefits [such as] rebates in taxes on water, housing, home loans etc.,” the Hindustan Times reported on July 11.

“If the parent of a single child opts for vasectomy, then the child will be entitled to free medical facilities until the age of 20. Such children are also proposed to get free education, insurance, and preference in government jobs,” the newspaper reported on July 10.

The Uttar Pradesh government announced on Sunday plans to create “a state population fund to implement the measures” prescribed in the draft bill should it become a law. The draft legislation “asks the state government to introduce population control as [a] compulsory subject in all secondary schools” across Uttar Pradesh, according to the Hindustan Times. In addition, the proposed bill calls for increased access to contraceptives and greater facilitation of abortions at public health centers.

Uttar Pradesh is home to roughly 200 million people and is India’s most populous state. The nation of India boasts a population of nearly 1.4 billion. India’s population is second only to China, which recently increased the number of children couples are allowed to have from two to three after experiencing a dramatic birth decline. Prior to the recent changes to its child limits, the Chinese Communist Party infamously banned families from having more than one child for over 30 years starting in 1980. Decades of strict population control measures across China have warped the country’s demographics and resulted in a shrinking population. Chinese government statistics suggest that the policy of forced abortions and infanticide “prevented” 400 million births.