Assam to employ two-child policy on beneficiaries of state funded schemes

On Saturday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that his administration will eventually impose a two-child policy for beneficiaries of certain state-funded schemes.

At a press conference Sarma informed, “We will slowly implement population norms for government schemes… There are some schemes for which we cannot impose the two-child norm, like availing free admission in schools and colleges, or for houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana; everyone will get that.”

The tea garden community, as well as individuals from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, would be exempt from the requirement at first, the Chief Minister informed on Friday.

The new population control policy, according to the BJP leader, would not apply to all Assam schemes immediately because many of the benefits are provided by the Centre.

Sarma pointed out, “We can’t impose two-child norms under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana but it will be implemented under schemes like Arunodoi and Chief Minister Awas Yojana. We will introduce population norms in other government schemes gradually.”

Sarma also chastised the opposition for focusing on his parents' family size. He retorted that there was no reasoning to compare current times to what was the norm in the 1970s, he added, “The Opposition is saying these strange things and pushing us back to the 70s.”

The Chief Minister had just a week earlier urged Assam's migrant Muslims to practise "decent family planning," warning that if the population continued to grow, disputes over living space would arise. Sarma was heavily criticized this appeal to immigrant Muslims.

This follows Assam's Population and Women Empowerment Policy has already been enacted, making anybody with more than two children ineligible for government jobs and contesting local elections. The policy became effective on January 1st.