Amid the Hijab and Halal row in Karnataka, a BJP leader has stoked a new controversy over population control measures, and has urged the Karnataka government to provide welfare schemes to only those having two children or less. BJP MLC Bharathi Shetty from coastal Karnataka said the population was not under control despite government’s effort and families with more children were cornering all state benefits.
The upper house member argued that ‘acche din’ was not possible if some families continued to gobble up a big share of government schemes. “We are seeing one family being given 100-150 kg of ration by the government. We ask where is ‘acche din’? But if we give so much to one family, how will we get ‘acche din’? So, only families with two children or less should be given government facilities and schemes,” said Bharathi Shetty.
The opposition parties in Karnataka have alleged that Bharathi Shetty is bringing up an old stereotype to suggest that Muslim families have more children and thus end up getting more benefits from the government. “She is not substantiating her statement with any facts. When we should be discussing far important issues, the BJP has been thriving on bringing up sentimental issues to distract from their failure,” said Karnataka Congress working president Saleem Ahmed.
Is Karnataka facing a population explosion issue?
The answer is No. The state’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR), which is average number of children a woman would have in her lifetime, has been falling consistently over the last few decades. In fact, it is much lower than the national average. For the population to remain consistent, the desired TFR is 2.1. But, according to the National Family Health Survey, the state reached a new low of 1.7 births per woman in 2020.
In fact, the Karnataka Economic Survey 2021-22 set off an alarm about the declining population rate in the state. “In 2030, the number of actual births could be 10.2 lakh. However, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of deaths is almost 7%, which means the number of deaths in 2030 will be close to 12 lakh, overtaking the number of births, leading to a population decline. A detailed analysis is required to create a demographic profile of the state till 2030, so that appropriate targeted policies can be evaluated,” stated the survey.
Kannada activist Arun Javgal said representatives don’t understand the population replacement mechanism. “For example, Dakshina Kannada from where Bharathi Shetty hails has just 1.5 TFR. Several communities like the Kodavas and Havyakas are seeing their numbers dwindling by huge margins,” Javgal explained.
Southern states in the country have constantly expressed their concern about declining TFR in the regions and its impact on the devolution of funds from the Centre and representation in Parliament.
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