Concession on 2 daughters rejected in draft population law

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Law Commission late on Monday submitted to chief minister Yogi Adityanath a controversial draft population control bill that proposes to bar people with more than two children from local body elections, government jobs, increments and promotions, and restrict their welfare benefits.

The 232-page draft of the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021, was finalised after the commission went through roughly 8,500 public suggestions received over the past fortnight. Some controversial suggestions — such as keeping people with two daughters outside the ambit of the law — were rejected.

“Rising population is a cause of concern for every nationalist... the commission studied all suggestions in detail and incorporated suitable revisions,” said justice (retired) AN Mittal, chairman of the commission, in a written message addressed to the chief minister.

“The state law commission has submitted the draft bill on population control to the chief minister, recommending a specific law for checking population growth,” added justice Mittal, a former judge of the Allahabad high court.

The government is likely to table the draft bill in the assembly soon, said people aware of the developments. The monsoon session of the assembly is scheduled to run from August 17 to 24.

Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to go the polls early next year.

On July 9, the commission uploaded the draft bill on its website seeking suggestions in 10 days (till July 19) from the public.

The commission received 8,500 responses on email; out of this, 8,200 backed the draft legislation and 300 opposed it, said the commission.

But the draft bill immediately stirred a row, with some experts saying the provisions violated constitutional rights and was aimed at particular communities. Opposition politicians also questioned the timing of the draft bill’s release, alleging it was aimed at vote consolidation ahead of the polls.

At least nine other states — including Rajasthan, Assam and Odisha, among others — have adopted two-child norms for limited purposes, mainly for limiting candidature in local body elections. The ambit of the draft UP bill has a wider sweep.

In its report to the CM, the commission rejected the argu

tion, subject to qualifications. Details will be published soon,” he said.

At present, a large number of schools are without headmasters and the matter has been raised in the Bihar legislature time and again. The principal secretary said the cadre of headmasters for secondary schools will be at the divisional level and the one for head teachers for primary schools at the district level. “For high schools, those with requisite qualifications could participate in the competition even from outside the government school system. Those working with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CICSE) schools could also participate. The basic objective is to bring in quality people in schools,” he said. The move is in line with the Union ministry of Human Resource development’s suggestion last year to the states to consider filling 50% posts of headmasters in primary and upper primary schools through direct recruitment.

The lack of quality education in government schools has often caused a lot of embarrassment despite growing enrolment, incentives and expenditure and even drawn flak from the Patna High Court.

With the new move, the government, said a senior official, will provide a platform to meritorious teachers to excel and join the government cadre.