Uttar Pradesh is set to introduce a two-child norm and anyone violating it will be barred from applying for or getting promotion in government jobs, receiving any kind of government subsidy and contesting local body elections, according to a draft of the proposed population control bill.

The Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission (UPSLC) has said the provisions are part of the draft Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilisation and Welfare) Bill, 2021.

The UPSLC website says: “The State Law Commission, UP, is working on control, stabilisation and welfare of the population of the state and has prepared a draft bill.”

Suggestions have been invited from the public to improve the draft bill and they have to be submitted by July 19.

The draft bill says: “Public servants who adopt the two-child norm will get two additional increments during the entire service, maternity or as the case may be, paternity leave of 12 months, with full salary and allowances, and three per cent increase in the employer’s contribution fund under the national pension scheme.”

A State Population Fund will be constituted for the purpose of implementing the act.

A.N. Mittal, the UPSLC chairman, said: “There is a provision in the draft that those who have two children will receive the benefits of the state government’s schemes quickly. They will get houses at a subsidised rate. Those who have more than two children wouldn’t be given such benefits. Ration will be granted for up to four members per family. Those violating the two-child policy will not receive the benefits of government schemes.”

Asked about the apprehension of the minority communities that the provisions would work against them and that they had been planned keeping next year’s Assembly elections in mind, Mittal said: “The bill doesn’t have anything to do with elections or a community. It was to be done in any case.”

A government source said chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said at a meeting with officials on Friday that the administration would launch a campaign to sensitise people about population-control measures.

“Poverty and lack of literacy are the main reasons behind population expansion,” the official quoted Adityanath as saying.

Listing the government’s duties, the draft bill says maternity centres will be established at all primary health centres. The centres and NGOs will distribute contraceptive pills and condoms, spread awareness about family planning methods through community health workers and ensure mandatory registration of pregnancies, deliveries, births and deaths across the state.

The draft bill also says that it shall be the duty of the government to introduce a compulsory subject relating to population control in all secondary schools.

The draft bill says: “In Uttar Pradesh, there are limited ecological and economic resources at hand. It is necessary and urgent that the provision of basic necessities of human life including affordable food, safe drinking water, decent housing, access to quality education, economic/livelihood opportunities, power/electricity for domestic consumption, and a secure living is accessible to all citizens.”

It is necessary to control, stabilise the population of the state for promotion of sustainable development with more equitable distribution, it adds.

Additional reporting from PTI