Two-child norm for subsidies, government jobs urged

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday was moved for implementation of the national commission to review the working of the Constitution (NCRWC) proposal on population control and 'two-child norm' as a criteria for government jobs, aid and subsidies.

A public interest litigation (PIL), filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, sought direction to the Centre to ascertain the feasibility of implementing the 24th recommendation of the NCRWC (Justice Venkatchaliah Commission) on population control.

In his plea, Upadhyay said the right to clean air, drinking water, health, peaceful sleep, shelter, livelihood and education could not secured for citizens without effective population control.

Stating that the government has not implemented the NCRWC proposals, the petitioner sought withdrawal of statutory rights like the right to vote, contest, property, free shelter and free legal aid.

Upadhyay requested the court to direct the government to spread awareness on population explosion and provide contraceptive pill, condoms and vaccines to economically weaker section and below poverty line families.

He also sought direction to the law commission to prepare a comprehensive report on population explosion within three months and ways to control it.

In his petition, Upadhyay said the vote bank politics had been misusing the taxpayers' hard-earned money for the past 70 years and there was an utter lack of strategy to banish poverty.

"At present, 122 crore Indians have Aadhaar Card, around 20 per cent viz. 25 crore citizens (particularly children) are without Aadhaar, and around 4 crore Bangladeshi and 1 crore Rohangiya intruders illegally reside in India. From this, it's evident that the population of our country is around 152 crore instead of 130 crore and we have marched ahead of China," he said.

He said India accounted for only 2 per cent of agriculture land and 4 per cent drinking water, but the population was 20 per cent of the world.

If we compare with China then our agricultural area was only one-third of that country and the rate of population growth three times that of China, he said. "The population explosion is the root cause of most of our problems like shortage of water, forests, land, cloth, house, poverty, employment, hunger and malnutrition," the petitioner said.

He said population explosion was also the root cause of crime like theft, dacoity and snatching.

--IANS

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