Policy not relevant in Kerala: Expert

“The two-child norm proposed by justice V.R. Krishna Iyer is irrelevant in Kerala,” said Dr Irudaya Rajan, one of the state’s biggest authorities on population studies.

He said four of five families in Kerala had two or less children and the average childbearing rate was less than two for at least the past 15 years. "What’s more, the population growth has been decreasing over the years and the State will experience negative population growth in 10 years time,” Rajan said.

With women’s educational standards rising, marriages happened relatively late, he said, adding that as a consequence couples average took a longer time to have a child. The prohibitive cost of childbirth was another aspect, he said.

“When I was born, hospital charges were virtually zero. But now, a Caesarean costs above Rs 25,000,” Rajan said.

He argued Iyer should have instead come up with a procreation policy. “Rather than penalising families, the State should encourage them to have at least two children,” he said. More than one-third of families in the State had only one child, he said. For any society to grow, Rajan said, each couple should have at least two children.

“The new theory is that a couple should substitute itself in the world. It is called the replacement theory in demographics,” he said.

China’s one-child policy has turned out to be a disaster. “Now, there are over 30 million men without wives. The policy had couples aborting girls. The Chinese have now realised that for them to survive as a society, a couple requires at least two children,” Rajan said.

Commission’s suggestions

* A family unit of husband & wife should limit its children to two to be legally entitled to receive various social benefits passed on by the govt.

* Govt to provide cash incentive not exceeding Rs 50,000 to women who marry after the age of 19 and have their first child after they turn 20. Similar amount to be provided on the birth of second child if there’s a spacing of three years in between.

* Couple below BPL who marry after the age of 20 and have their first child born after the mother reaches the age of 21, to receive cash not exceeding Rs 5,000/-.

Freedom to breed is individual decision

Fr Paul Thelekat

How many children to have is purely a couple’s decision, which the State cannot interfere with.
The proposed Bill violates fundamental rights. It’s draconian and more inhuman than what exists in Communist China.

The justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Commission recommendations remind me of compulsory sterilisations during Emergency by Sanjay Gandhi.

In Europe, the reverse is the situation. Every European Union country gives a monthly grant to every child born. As the number of children increases per couple, the grant also increases. For example, for the first child the grant is 140 euros, for the second 280 euros and for the eighth child it’s 1,332 euros a month.

Despite the measure, the numbers are not increasing in countries such as Germany and Ukraine. If the German government starts compulsorily impregnation what will we say?We are entering Republic of the Animal Farm where Big Bother can enact laws manipulating animals of the Brave New World.

Recommendations in the report submitted by Iyer-led Commission are said to be for the welfare of women and children and for progress of the country. But is the country one of trees and animals or of human beings?

We forget the greatest resource of a country is its people. We have ecologists who lament tigers and monkeys becoming extinct. Will there be people in this country when races become extinct?

For Iyer Commission, children are a hindrance to progress. This is the policy that created a culture of death in the West it is still trying to shed. Why do rich Western nations do not have enough workforce and are left with a greying generation?

Why do rich people have fewer children? Is it because of love for the country or because children are seen as a hindrance to a pleasure-seeking life?

The Iyer recommendations will create an immoral culture that is suicidal because it is anti-life.

There’s more to life than animal existence

Advocate T.R. Rajan (Secretary, Commission on Right and Welfare of Women & Children)

Harsh realities and glaring statistics prompt our government to take steps to control the population. It’s a known fact that India, where 33 children are born every minute, is second only to China in terms of population.

But, there are a few other shocking statistics. 61% of our population has no access to pure drinking water. 215 million people suffer endemic hunger, while 26% live below BPL.

What is even more shocking is that 35% of the country’s population is illiterate. The situation is such that neither State nor Central government has the financial wherewithal to provide even basic amenities.

It’s here that population growth becomes pertinent. Despite various measures including contraceptive distribution, success in arresting population growth has been limited. So, is there a solution that will reverse the trend?

The provisions contained in Kerala Women’s Code Bill 2011 recommended by the Commission on Rights and Welfare of Women and Children headed by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer addresses this pertinent question. It stipulates that each family unit of husband and wife limit its children to 2 if it wants to be legally entitled to receive the various social benefits passed on by the government.

It’s mandated that the government will provide a cash incentive not exceeding Rs 50,000 to women who marry after the age of 19 and have their first child after they turn 20.

A similar sum would also be granted on the birth of the second child, provided there’s a 3-year spacing in between. Couples with children below the poverty line will also be entitled to health insurance if one of the spouses undergoes sterilisation.

The Chapter further provides that the couple below BPL who marry after the age of 20 and have their first child born after the mother reaches the age of 21, would be rewarded by the Commission with cash not exceeding Rs 5,000.

The Bill provides for constitution of a commission to implement a population regulation policy. The Bill also provides for constitution of a commission for the implementation of a population regulation policy.
The Bill further provides that if the commission so constituted considers that there is general willful indifference to the provisions of the chapter or frequent violations, it may recommend to the state government to make provisions by way of civil and criminal liability.

In short, it’s about incentives for those who follow the two-child norm and disincentives for those who violate it. Apprehensions raised by religious institutions are unfounded. The recommendations do not in any manner impinge upon Hindu tenets, Biblical canons or Koranic principles.

The bill also draws sustenance from Articles 15 [3], 21 [A] of the Constitution of India. Supreme Court, interpreting Article 21, observed that right to life meant much more than sheer animal existence.
Should we be like animals, is the most pertinent question today. Those who say life has to be lived in a more purposeful manner will certainly vote for the two-child norm.

The count

* The population of Kerala went up from 31.8 million in 2001, as per the census, to 33.3 million in 2011, with women (1.73 million) outnumbering men 1.6 million.

* But the population of children declined by 12.41% in this period.

* Experts say the State had a high population growth rate till 1970-71, But it gradually fell. The growth rate fell to 9.4% at the beginning of 2001 compared to the All-India average of 21.5%. In this period, the State witnessed a dramatic fall in birth and death rates.

* The fall in birth rate was attributed to the success of family planning and high literacy.

* The 2011 census put the population of children between 0-6 at 33.22 L, 9.95% of the total.

* Malappuram is the most populous district with over 41L people, 12.31% of the State numbers. Wayanad, with a little over 8L, was the least populated.

* Overall population has increased by over 15L since the 2001 census, but the decadal growth has come down to 4.86% from 9.43%.

Suresh Gopi likes family planning

Actor Suresh Gopi is a proud father of four but said he was more than willing to accept a penalty for having fathered more children than two.

“Let justice Krishna Iyer’s proposal be implemented with retrospective effect. Let the penalty be Rs 10,000 or Rs 1 lakh. I know the perils of population explosion, as the two-child policy was mooted way back in the early ’70s by Indira Gandhi. Just that it was not made into a law,” Gopi said.

“Let the issue boil over, I’ll speak out loud and clear why I needed my four children.” The star recommended even stricter measures for those violating the two-child norm. “Don’t spare the politician. Those having more than two children should be deprived of the right to become legislators and parliamentarians.”

About reports that he was keen on entering politics, Gopi said: “My actions gave people a lot of satisfaction. They thought I should become a leader. But I was not prepared. Just check the statements made by me over the years and you’ll see I have relentlessly said our democratic system is a big hoax.”

“You have to keep a check on population, else it might damage our economic system,” he said.
The actor said his decision to have four children was based on pure economics. “Disbursal of money by accumulators0 sustains an economy. Children are a fair means to disburse money. I spend on their shampoo, soap, clothes, studies, healthcare and insurance. A large chunk of this money goes into State and national exchequers,” he said.