UP to Bring Changes in Family Planning Rules, Couples With More than 2 Kids May be Debarred From Welfare Schemes

Ahead of the UP polls which are due in the first quarter of 2022, the state might witness legal amendments in the family planning rules, sources in the UP government said.

As per sources, the State law commission is preparing a draft on the proposed changes which may include debarring couples with more than 2 children from certain welfare schemes including the ration subsidy.

‘Commission is preparing a draft bill which has several key recommendations. The report will be soon submitted to the state govt,’ said Justice Aditya Mittal chairman of state law commission.

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While there are several provisions already in place in UP to discourage people from having more than 2 children, the idea of bringing in changes in the family planning law has been worked upon since early last year.

Notably, in 2020 a demand was raised to bar families with more than two children from contesting the panchayat polls and making them illegible for govt jobs, which was subsequently thwarted by the UP government.

However, Uttar Pradesh is not the only state in the race to regulate population growth. On Saturday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government will gradually implement a two-child policy for availing benefits under specific schemes funded by the state.

In addition, on June 10, Sarma urged the minority community to adopt a ?decent family planning policy? for population control to reduce poverty, which leads to shrinking of living space and consequent land encroachment when he spoke about the recent evictions in three districts.

The Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh completed its fourth-anniversary last month. As per data, UP emerged as the second state in ease of doing business ranking after Andhra Pradesh. It topped the ranking in north India by jumping 10 places. Despite the Covid-19-induced economic slowdown, UP also became the second-largest state in terms of GSDP for FY 2020-21, beating industrialized Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

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