Committee to probe population growth challenges: FM’s statement likely to please Sangh

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a plan in Thursday’s interim budget to set up a high-level committee to look into challenges related to population growth.

Also Read | India will surpass China to become the world’s most populous country by mid-2023, with a population of 1.42 billion

“The government will set up a high-powered committee to broadly consider the challenges posed by rapid population growth and demographic changes,” she said.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the government did not mention sensitive topics such as population control but made it clear that research and, in the long term, intervention may be needed.

Choosing her words carefully so as not to create panic, Sitharaman said the committee would be mandated to make recommendations to address the challenges of becoming a ‘Viksit Bharat’, the dream of India in 2047.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, India’s population will surpass China’s in mid-2023, reaching 1.4286 billion people. Today, India’s population is close to 18% of the world’s population. While it has a human resource advantage, the large number of unemployed youth has added to the government’s concerns.

What Modi said in 2019

Sitharaman’s statement is in line with concerns expressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech in 2019, when he said that the growing population was a matter of concern and that those segments of society making smaller families worthwhile respect.

Also Read | ‘Keeping families small is an act of patriotism’: Modi draws attention to population explosion on International Day

Praising small families, the Prime Minister said: “They have a small family but express patriotism for the country. Let us learn from them. Social awareness is needed.”

Modi called it “patriotism” in his I-Day speech in 2019. “Those who pursue the small family policy also contribute to the development of the country. This is also a form of patriotism.”

Comply with VHP, RSS complaints

While the FM’s use of the term “demographic change” may not have raised eyebrows, it is in line with what the VHP and other Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliates have repeatedly complained about. Sangh affiliates have in the past targeted the “population” of Hindu-majority Jammu, India’s border regions (particularly West Bengal), parts of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, and other parts of India. Changes” expressed concern.

VHP international working president Alok Kumar has said that “love jihad” is a demographic invasion and strict laws are needed to change the situation. Furthermore, against the backdrop of predictions that India will have the largest number of Muslims by 2050, the VHP is demanding laws to stem what they call a “demographic imbalance” that may have occurred in the past. Although it may be too early to judge the Muslim population mentioned by Sitharaman. In her interim budget, this means more than just population controls.

The VHP also cautiously welcomed this. “As a party, the BJP has been raising this issue for years but as a government it has been silent. Finding this sentence in the Prime Minister’s Budget Statement is a welcome step. However, the demographic imbalance requires urgent intervention. Bengal, Both Bihar and Odisha have large-scale illegal migration, so there is an imbalance. This government has to step in,” VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said.