Maintaining population growth is SDG inclusive: Yogi Adityanath

LUCKNOW: At the launch of the Draft Regulation Policy 2021-30 on July 11, Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, said that high and ever increasing population can be a deterrent to the development goals. The launch of the policy, entailing various aspects of a person from birth to old age, was held on the occasion of World Population Day, and the CM said that the new policy takes every community into account.

The CM added that high population is connected with poverty and the issue requires awareness among the people. Yogi added that this issue is also related to sustainable development goals set by the United Nations. He informed that the state of Uttar Pradesh, which is currently the most populous state in India, will work to deal with the issue. The policy introduced has set the goal of reducing the state’s reproductive rate to 2.1 by 2026 and to 1.9 by 2030.

In line with CM’s aim of controlling state’s population growth, the first draft of the Population Control Bill was released by the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission, which includes provisions to exclude people with more than two children from the benefits of government schemes and perks. Justice AN Mittal, Chairman, UP State Law Commission, informed that this bill proposes to disentitle the violators of the two-child policy from contesting local body elections and from applying for government jobs in the state. The bill also has a provision to limit ration card units to four. Moreover, the new Population Control Bill proposes to provide rebates on water and electricity bills, house tax, home loans to people who are not in government service but follow the two-child policy. The law commission is seeking suggestions from the public on this particular bill till July 19.

CM Yogi also mentioned the need to take steps to bring down the state’s Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate. He added that the government will ensure that population control measures do not have an adverse impact on any community. The CM also inaugurated 11 laboratories for RT-PCR testing on Sunday.