Guwahati: The BJP government in Assam has decided that people with more than two children will be ineligible for government jobs after January 1, 2021.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting, here on Monday, with an aim to curb population explosion. A communique from Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s office said those with more than two children would not be considered for government jobs from January 1, 2021.
The Cabinet also decided to grant three bigha farm land to landless indigenous people and another half bigha for construction of house. “The beneficiaries, however, would not be able to sale the land thus acquired for at least 15 years,” it said.
The Assam government had in 2017 drafted a policy on population growth. At 31,169,272 population in the 2011 census, the state had registered a 16.93 per cent growth in 10 years.
The BJP-led government in Assam that came to power in 2016 initiated the draft population policy on March 27, 2017.
Assam Health and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier said legislators must adhere to the family planning norms and the state would take up the issue with the central government.
“We will propose to the central government to make the two-child norm a the yardstick for contesting polls. If a state MLA flouts the family norms, he/she should be disqualified from membership and barred from contesting polls,” Sarma said.
The state government also proposes widow pension and providing victims of triple talaq dependency allowance or pension till they are imparted skill upgradation training. The government will also consider a legislation to raise quota for women in jobs up to 50 per cent. (IANS)
