Outfit launches campaign seeking population control law, two-child policy
Key persons of the outfit Taxpayers’ Association of Bharat argue that galloping population is at the root of most of the country’s problems.
An outfit named Taxpayers’ Association of Bharat (TAXAB) formed last year is set to launch a nationwide campaign demanding population control law in India.
The campaign pressing for two-child policy in India will be formally launched from New Delhi’s Constitution Club on July 10, the eve of World Population Day.
They launched an SMS campaign in May requesting people to give missed call to a particular number should they support the cause. They have also floated a petition signing campaign through their website.
In April this year, the BJP-led government in Assam released its draft population policy where it advocated a strict two-child policy.
“We have received support from more than four lakh people already. These people gave missed calls to the designated number and signed online petition. We have also started sending suggestions to all state government, requesting them to take necessary actions in this regard,” said Parmesh Ranjan, secretary of the outfit.
Ranjan, an IIT Delhi alumnus, worked in leadership positions at several prominent business firms.
“We have 7,000 volunteers across all of India’s nearly-650 districts,” Ranjan said, adding that the campaign will primarily be carried out on social media, targeting the youth, but will eventually be taken to the grassroots level.
The contention of TAXAB is that the taxpayers’ money is losing its way, as India’s population is growing out of proportion with its landmass and national wealth.
“Population in Bharat is growing rapidly. The growth is so alarming that it has nullified the impact of all development. In 1947, population of Bharat was nearly 36 crores which has increased by more than four times… Though taxpayers are regularly increasing their contribution to fight with poverty, the vote bank politics has been misusing the hard-earned money of taxpayers for past 70 years,” reads the online petition.
In all its campaign literature, including on their website, TAXAB always referred to the country as Bharat instead of India that has been a trademark of saffron organisations.
According to Prashant Singh, a volunteer working at the outfit’s Delhi office, several youths have quit their jobs to join the campaign. The Uttarakhand-resident is an engineering graduate who used to run a coaching institution and taught maths.
“Population control measures are the only way to decrease poverty and unemployment, check pollution and help protect our environment,” Singh said. They believe population control measures will also reduce traffic jam in cities.
India’s population grew by 17.6% between 2001 and 2011 to reach 1.21 billion, according to the 2011 census report. The growth rate, however, was down from 21.5 during 1991-2001.
In its revised report on world population prospects, 2017, the UN has projected India’s population will surpass that of China by 2030.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) took a resolution in October 2015, seeking reformulation of India’s population policy, “keeping in view availability of resources in the country, future needs and the problem of demographic imbalance and apply the same uniformly to all.”
“The ‘#Bharat4PopulationLaw’ campaign has no religious or communal bias,” Ranjan claimed.
