THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 24 October 2019 (Put away the stick (Indian Express))

Put away the stick (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: Health
Prelims level: National Family Health Survey
Mains level: Limitations of the two child norms

Context

On Tuesday, the Assam government announced that people with more than two children will not be eligible for government jobs from January 2021.

Two child policy

Assam will become the fourth state after Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to have a two-child norm in place for government jobs.
At least five other states follow this norm for candidates seeking elections to local bodies such as panchayats, municipal corporations and zila parishads.

Limitations of the two child norms

Measures such as debarring people from holding government office amount to penalising weaker sections of the population, including women, whose reproductive choices are often subject to a variety of constraints.
The Assam government has chosen to ignore the discriminatory nature of the two-child policy.
Almost all surveys indicate that India’s population growth rate has slowed substantially in the last decade.
According to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), at 2.2, India’s total fertility rate (TFR) is very close to the desired replacement level of 2.1.
NFHS-4 data confirms that women’s education has a direct bearing on fertility rates.
The decadal survey shows that women who have never been to school are likely to bear more than three children while the fertility rate of those who have completed 12 years of schooling is 1.7.

Fertility rate and Population growth

In spite of the fall in TFR, India’s population has continued to grow because nearly 50 per cent of the people are in the age group of 15-49.
This means that the absolute population will continue to rise even though couples have less children.
NFHS-4 figures on contraception point to a major shortfall: The unmet need for contraception is 13 per cent — over 30 million women of reproductive age are not able to access contraception.

Way ahead

A further slowing down of the momentum will require raising the age of marriage, delaying the first pregnancy and ensuring spacing between births.
Dealing with the country’s demographic peculiarity will require investments in health, education, nutrition and employment avenues.
The right to seek a government job or contest elections are citizens’ rights.
State governments will do well to rethink throttling such rights to enforce population control.
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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) Consider the following statements:
1. The Scheduled Tribes comprise about 18.6% of India’s population (according to the 2011 census)
2. Ministry of Tribal Affairs organizes a National Tribal Festival named as 'Aadi Mahotsava'

Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) None of the above