RSS Seeks Population Policy in Uttarakhand on Lines of UP, Assam to Ensure 'Demographic Balance': Report

In a recent meeting of the BJP and RSS in Uttarakhand, a population control policy similar to Assam and Uttar Pradesh was proposed in order to ensure “demographic balance”.

According to an exclusive report by The Indian Express, RSS claimed that the Muslim population has increased — particularly in Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital — over the years, and there has been unauthorised development of Muslim religious sites. They demanded that such places be identified and appropriate action taken.

At the meeting in Dehradun on Wednesday, apart from CM Dhami, BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh, state party president Madan Kaushik, and RSS joint general secretaries Dr Krishna Gopal and Arun Kumar — who is RSS’s new BJP pointsperson — were present.

The announcement by two BJP-ruled states, Uttar Pradesh and Assam, about their intent to introduce a population control policy is in line with the demand of RSS, for a nationwide policy to check what it calls “demographic imbalance”.

Last month, UP, the most populous state in the country with an estimated 220 million population, announced a new policy that will incentivise population control. A draft bill of the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilisation and Welfare) Bill, 2021, has been created by the state’s law commission with the intent to incentivise those with two children through preference in government jobs and social schemes such as free or subsidised ration.

In Assam, a similar policy is being discussed. In the state with an estimated population of 36 million, the government is also considering a two-child policy for access to government schemes. In 2017, the government introduced the Population and Women Empowerment policy that mandated government officials to abide by the two-child norm.

For long, the RSS has advocated a pan-Indian law that would be uniform for all communities and override religious or social restrictions pertaining to family planning.

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