Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday (June 18) announced the gradual implementation of the two-child policy for availing government benefits in Assam. However, tea garden workers and members of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities have been exempted from its purview.
"We will gradually incorporate a two-child policy for availing government benefits. You can consider this an announcement," the Chief Minister said.
Mentioning that the new population norms would affect the eligibility for government benefits, including waiver of loans, Sarma said, "Be it loan waiver or other government schemes, population norms will be taken into account. It won't be applicable to tea garden workers and SC-ST community. In the future, population norms will be taken into account as eligibility for government benefits. Population policy has begun." The Assam government had approved a proposal to render people having more than two children as ineligible for government jobs from January 1, 2021.
Some other states with similar norms are Rajasthan where candidates who have more than two children are not eligible for appointment to government jobs. In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh a person with more than two children is disqualified from contesting election. The Gujarat Local Authorities Act disqualifies anyone with more than two children from contesting elections for bodies of local self-governance.
Even the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads And Panchayat Samitis Act disqualifies people who have more than two children from contesting local body elections. Uttarakhand has passed a bill which bars people with more than two children from contesting panchayat elections.
