India has a current population of over 1.3 billion and it is the 7th largest country by area. With increased population, India is all set to surpass China and become the most populous country by the year 2027, meaning seven years from now.
A United Nations report adds that Earth will be home to 9.7 billion people in 2050 and by 2100 the number will hike to 11 billion. India will hold a massive population 10 times higher than America despite the fact that it is one-third the size of the US.
The UN report also added that the population would grow at a steady pace than it had predicted two years ago.
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha member and chief of Assam’s minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, said that Muslims cannot be bound by laws and they will continue to produce children.
Ajmal’s statement came after the Assam cabinet had sanctioned a policy, stressing the fact that those with more than 2 children would be ineligible for government jobs from January 2021.
“Muslims will continue to produce children, they will not listen to anyone. Now, the government has brought this law to stop Muslims from having jobs. According to the Sachar committee, below 2 per cent Muslims get government jobs. Literate people are now increasing among the Muslim community and they are working across the world,” Badruddin Ajmal said.
Giving a religious colour to Assam government’s decision, the AIUDF chief said that Islam and he personally also believe that anyone who want to come to world will come and no force on earth can stop it. “Our religion and I personally believe that those who want to come to the world will come and no one can stop it,” Ajmal said.
Assam’s average family size is 5.5, which is above the national average. Assam has the highest MMR in the country. The state’s infant mortality rate is also considerably high with 54 (SRS, 2013). In under-5 child mortality rate also, Assam tops the chart among the states with 73 per 1,000 births against the national average of 49 (SRS, 2013).
Attacking the BJP-led government in Assam, Ajmal said, “Whatever laws you make, they will have no impact on the Muslims. Tampering with nature is not good. Muslims will do whatever they want to bear children. Don’t shout later that we have more children. Don’t fight with nature.”
“On one side, the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat asks to produce 10-10 children and on the other side, the government says that no government jobs will be given to the people having more than two children. First, they should decide what they want. They don’t follow what RSS said,” he added.
The two-child rule follows the State Population and Women Empowerment Policy of 2017 which stated that “candidates having two children only will be eligible” and “Government servants shall strictly follow norms of two children family to serve as role model for the Society.”
The state had earlier passed the Assam Panchayat (Amendment) Act, 2018 which barred anyone with more than 2 kids from contesting the Panchayat polls. It should be noted that Assam’s total fertility rate stands at 2.3 at par with India’s average, according to government data.
