The More the Messier: Intervention in Population Control Policy

Today, the world is facing a plethora of problems, ranging from poverty and hunger, to climate change and pollution. In context of the developing countries, where they are concentrated more acutely, these problems have their roots in overpopulation and the burden it poses on the available resources. Hence, individuals and governments across the world feel the need to intervene and control this population growth to ensure a better quality of life as well as sustainable development. Such government interventions can be of various kinds and degrees, and their need and impact can be studied by looking at two of the most populated countries, accounting for 37% of the world population, India and China.

India

As per the latest UN estimates, India is expected to surpass China to become the most populated country in 2027, and reach its peak in the 2060s. It was the first country in the world to formulate a National Family Planning Programme in 1952, with the objective of “reducing birth rate to the extent necessary to stabilise the population at a level consistent with the requirements of national economy". The government took more drastic measures in 1975, during the emergency period when civil liberties were suspended, as it launched a series of ruthless sterilisation campaigns to limit population growth, specifically targeting the poor and underprivileged. Lately, Honourable PM Narendra Modi encouraged couples to have smaller families and said that having fewer children is an “act of patriotism”, in his 2019 Independence Day speech.

There have been speculations that India will come up with a population control law soon. Recently, a private member bill was sought to be proposed in the Rajya Sabha, known as the Population Control Bill, 2020, detailing incentives to promote a two child norm, which proposes an amendment to article 47A as follows: “The state shall promote small family norms by offering incentives in taxes, employment, education etc to its people who keep their family limited to two children and shall withdraw every concession from and deprive such incentives to those not adhering to small family norm, to keep the growing population under control.” It has various provisions such as setting up District Population Stabilisation Committees in hundred districts with highest population growth rate, benefits to couples having one child, monetary rewards to people living below poverty line and choosing to have one child, preference to candidates having two or less children for government jobs, etc.

It is also worth noting that population growth rate declined in India by 21.5% between 1991 and 2001 and declined by 17.7% between 2001 and 2011. As of 2017, India’s total fertility rate (TFR), the number of children who would be born per woman, stood at 2.2, with 2.1 being the typical TFR required for each generation to replace itself. Furthermore, as per the National Family Health Survey 2015-16, TFR for rural areas was 2.4 as compared to 1.8 for urban areas; 3.1 for women with no schooling as compared to 1.7 for 12 or more years of education; and 3.2 for the lowest wealth quintile and 1.5 for the highest wealth quintile. These trends indicate that, even though India is overpopulated, a population explosion might not be the looming threat we should be too concerned with. The problem is, in fact, much more structural, and stems from poor health and education facilities. 

Poverty, low per capita income, concentration of wealth and socio-economic inequalities are just some of the problems that plague this developing country that is also undergoing an economic slowdown. In such conditions, population control policies often become a tool to target certain religious beliefs and lower income groups and diverts attention from these structural problems. Lack of sound healthcare facilities, high infant mortality rate, and low access to contraceptives, among other things, lead to larger rural families. Education also plays a major role, especially among women, in promoting health conscious family planning, use of contraceptives (through sex education) and most importantly, autonomy in all such bodily matters.  Hence, rather than imposing policies, it is important to address and divert resources to solving these issues and increase their access and coverage.

China

China is the most populated country in the world with 1.4 billion people, accounting for 18.5% of the world’s population. In the 1970s, the government started a family planning campaign, issuing voluntary guidelines on fertility control with the slogan ‘late, long, and few’, promoting late marriage, longer spacing between births, and fewer births overall. This helped bring down the TFR from 5.81 to 2.75. However, the government was still worried about the growing population and the burden it posed on the resources of the country. So, in 1979, the government came up with the infamous One-Child Policy, which was criticised by many international organisations on humanitarian grounds, and was ultimately abolished in 2016. 

This policy required married couples to apply for a family planning service certificate, once they learnt of a pregnancy, which was difficult to obtain because of an overly complex procedure. Further, it was made compulsory for couples (mainly women) to use contraceptives or be sterilised after having one child. One of the most problematic elements of this policy was its brutal implementation, through forced abortions, hefty fines and even jail sentences for couples having an ‘illegal’ second child. If the couple managed to have a second child, irrespective of the law, then that child was not recognised by the system and hence, was not eligible for public education and healthcare, or government jobs. Family planning officials encouraged neighbours to spy on each other and report any children who may be unregistered for monetary rewards. The local authorities also imposed peer pressure from co-workers by denying government employees an additional bonus if anyone in their unit had an unregistered second child.

China’s society is highly patriarchal in nature. Hence, there was a sharp rise in sex selective abortion if the first child was found to be a female. Eventually, the government allowed couples having a female first born to have another child, although it did not help the issue much. As a result, the sex ratio was imbalanced, being 117 males per 100 females in 2012. In 2016, it was estimated that 30 million men will be unable to marry! Additionally, adopting a one child policy has led to an ageing population with lesser young people who can care for them, as well as a shrinking labour force. Thus, in order to reduce the growing burden on the state infrastructure, as well as to make sure the country is capable of making economic progress, the government adopted a Two-Child Policy in 2016, which promotes having a second child through incentives and subsidies.

Even though China was able to benefit from the One-Child policy in the short term, through improved quality of life for the majority of people, it has caused major long term damage for the state, and will have a negative impact on the future generations as well. It has reached the population composition of a developed country, even though it is still developing. Further, there are horrifying accounts of forced, state sponsored sterilisations and people going into hiding just to have children. No amount of economic development can justify these atrocities and the brutal treatment of the citizens, as well as stripping away the freedom to plan their families.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as seen in the case of India and China, population control policies often end up targeting a particular group, whether it's a gender, a religion, or a class. Even though overpopulation is a major issue, it does not justify coercive policies and taking away the freedom of individuals to decide their family size. Consequently, the best way to control population growth is development of the region, through better infrastructure for education and healthcare, universal coverage, and special emphasis on easy access to contraceptives as well as making sex education relevant and compulsory, so that people can make informed decisions. 

We find ourselves at a significant point in time, as our actions right now will have a lasting impact on the future of this planet. Hence, it becomes our responsibility to reduce the burden on the Earth’s resources and take adequate and humanitarian measures towards population control. At the same time, the ultimate objective of any government policy should be to ensure that the entire population is healthy and educated enough to contribute to the betterment of the country, thus improving the overall quality of life as well as the economic status.

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This essay was placed second in the Article Writing Competition organised by Scales and States in June 2020. It has been penned by Diya Srivastva, an undergraduate student at Hansraj College, University of Delhi