The Politics of Population Policies ...

One of Sama’s primary concerns from it’s very inception has been the prevailing anxiety over population growth and the resulting coercive population control measures that invariably target women, particularly those poor and underprivileged, be it sterilizations, through incentives/disincentives or the two child norm. Such policies only demonstrate how, in the name of protecting ‘national interest’, the state has pervaded the most private spheres of the individual, chaining one’s personal choices through norms and rules.

The two-child norm ...

In India, the experiences that have emerged over the past five decades from targeted population policies show evidences that reflect gross violations against women and the poor and marginalized communities, as a consequence of the implementation of policies like the two-child norm. The two-child norm debars people with more than two children from holding office or contesting elections to the Panchayati Raj Institutions.

Sama, individually and in association with other women’s and health groups, has been continually advocating against the two-child norm.

Sama’s efforts have been instrumental in revoking the two-child norm in Madhya Pradesh. But it continues in other forms in many other states of India, and Sama continues to oppose them.

Perceptions about population ...

The 1950s and 60s witnessed the emergence of neo-Malthusian ideas that too many people reproducing too rapidly retards economic growth, destroys the environment, overstretches resources, exacerbates poverty and fuels conflict. The prevalence and propagation of these thoughts has led to the development of a crisis mentality that generates extreme and narrow demographic assertions, which are neither ethically sound nor effective. Such an outlook fails to recognize that economic prosperity is independent of population size but depends heavily on how effectively the country invests in its people, giving them better facilities in spheres of general health, education, political and economic opportunities etc. It forgets that human poverty has its roots in the denial of these opportunities and will persist in all countries irrespective of population size and fertility.