Assam: Parents of more than 2 children declared ineligible for state secretariat jobs

Guwahati: The state government’s move to introduce population control in government jobs from 2021 in Assam has been implemented with the advertisement of vacant posts in the Assam secretariat.

According to this new law, parents of more than two children will be declared ineligible to apply for jobs.

Applicants will be required to clearly specify in an affidavit that they do not have more than two children. They would also have to furnish the details of their children’s names, ages etc in the affidavit. Along with this, candidates will also have to state that there has been no violation of the Marriage Law of 2006.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam took this decision at a cabinet meeting in October last year. A statement from the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s office stated that those with more than two children would not be considered for government jobs from January 2021.

“We believe that very shortly the Government of India will also implement a strong policy for population control. We are really proud that the Assam government had already passed such a bill and are trying to implement it in the state,” said Shailendra Pandey, Chairman, Northeast Chapter Jansankhya Samadhan Foundation (JSF).

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The Foundation has been demanding the introduction of a stringent population control law across the country to prevent population explosion. In order to secure the future of the natives and the next generation of the country

Earlier in 2017, Assam government had barred those having more than two children from being elected or nominated to panchayat or local bodies’ elections. ‘Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam’ bill was passed by the legislative assembly in September 2017 which also binds the current state employees to also comply with the two – child restriction.

Many other states in India have introduced laws for population control reflecting the same policies adopted by the Assam government. A similar two-child policy was adopted by Madhya Pradesh much before Assam in 2001. The MP policy even restricts persons with more than two children from taking up judicial positions.

Rajasthan enacted a law in 1994 that stated that if an individual had more than two children then that person would not be allowed to contest any elections in the state.

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Maharashtra as well does not allow people with more than two children from standing for elections, while also prohibiting them from obtaining government jobs. Similarly in Karnataka, only candidates who have two children or, along with a ‘sanitary latrine’ in their residence, are qualified to contest in local elections.

Many other such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Odisha have enforced population control laws in the country.