SS chief Dr. Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday expressed concern about India’s falling fertility rate and said couples should have at least three children to ensure that India’s population does not decline.
Stressing the importance of family, he warned that a society will perish if its population growth rate falls below 2.1. Speaking at the ‘Kathale Kul (clan) Sammelan’ in Nagpur, he said that ‘kutumb’ (family) is an integral part of society, with each family serving as a unit.
“Decreasing population is a matter of concern because the Loksankhya Shastra says that if we go below 2.1, then that society perishes, no one will destroy it, it will perish by itself,” Bhagwat added.
Therefore, he said that it should not come below 2.1 at any cost. As per the population policy of 1998 or 2002, I don’t exactly remember, it was said that the population growth rate should not go below 2.1. Now a human is not born in the 0.1 fraction … So, it should be a minimum of three), he added.
Dr Bhagwat further said, “We count the family as a vital unit that makes up a society. The culture and values are inherited and passed from one generation to another, thus preserving the core systems and values that are timeless and relevant not just to Indians but also globally.”
His latest comments gained significance at a time when the Chief Ministers from the South have expressed concern about the ageing population in their states.
In October, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, whose party is an ally of BJP-led NDA, urged people in his state to have more children and said, “We are thinking of providing incentives to families with more children, encouraging couples to have more children.” His government also scrapped the two-child rule for contesting local body elections in the state. Telangana is now likely to follow suit.
A day after Naidu’s remarks, his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin of DMK said in jest how blessings for newlyweds had changed over time and went on to refer to an old Tamil saying that enumerated 16 forms of wealth, ranging from cows and land to children and education. Referring next to a potential effect that lower population growth might have on delimitation, likely to be carried out in 2026, Stalin jokes: “Why not aim for 16 children?”
Earlier, during a Dussehra rally in Nagpur, the RSS chief said that India needs a well-thought-out population policy that applies equally to all communities.
