Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said population control programmes must not lead to an imbalance by focusing on native residents while the growth rate of some community remains high, a possible reference to Muslims. He said population stabilisation should be uniform across different sections of people, and expressed concern over the likelihood of anarchy at some point if there are imbalances in a country.
The United Nations has declared July 11 as World Population Day and the CM was addressing an event here to mark the beginning of a population control fortnight. He said population control programmes must proceed successfully, but a situation of population imbalance should also not happen.
“It should not happen that the speed of population growth or the percentage of some community is high and we stabilise the population of the `moolniwasi’ (natives) through awareness or enforcement, he said. This is a matter of concern for every country where there is a situation of population imbalance,” he added.
Such situation could have an adverse impact on religious demography and after some time disorder (avayvastha) and anarchy (arajakta) could begin in that country, he said. “Hence, when we talk about population stabilisation, it should be uniform for everyone and above caste, religion, language or region, he said, stressing that there is a need to involve all people with awareness programmes.
The UP law commission had submitted a draft Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021 to the state’s BJP government in the last few months of Adityanath’s previous term in office. The proposed legislation incentivised families following a two-child norm, and some critics suggested that it targeted the state’s Muslim community. The government, however, rejected the charge.
Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in the country, could cross the 25-crore population mark in the coming years. He said when the state tries to bring down maternal and child deaths due to anaemia at par with the national level, it faces the problem of these death rates being high in a particular community.” Adityanath said population growth for a state or a country is a challenge if there aren’t enough resources.
He called for inter-departmental coordination and a joint effort by ASHA and Anganwadi workers, village heads, teachers and the health department in increasing awareness. Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and Minister of State for Health Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh also attended the event.
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