Congress, citizen groups criticized Manipur government’s 4-child policy

Manipur government’s 4-child policy

Imphal: The opposition Congress and several other organisations, including the Indigenous People’s Association of Kanglapak (IPAK), have criticized the BJP-led Manipur government’s policy of stopping government benefits for families with more than four children.

The Manipur Cabinet, headed by Chief Minister N Biren Singh, on October 13 decided to limit the number of children in a family to four so that they are eligible for government jobs or benefits in various schemes.
The Council of Ministers approved setting up of Manipur State Population Commission in its meeting on Thursday.

Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president, K Taluttama said the Manipur cabinet’s decision to stop government scholarships for families with more than four children lacks sensitivity and is unconstitutional.
“The BJP government’s decision was unclear and the circumstances under which the government is taking this decision are incomprehensible,” he told reporters.

Tilotoma said the proposed policy would be a grave violation of the right to life and would deprive him of constitutional facilities and provisions.
He said the Manipur government could take a decision to control population growth, urging the government to consider the uncontrolled influx of migrants instead of focusing on how many children parents have. .

Civil society group IPAK termed the proposed policy as illogical and said it would pose a serious threat to local communities whose population ratio would be reduced to the micro level.
IPAK said in a statement that India is the second most populous country in the world and is projected to be the most populous country as per the next census report.

“In India, Metis account for only 0.09 percent of the population which can be considered as a “micro-minority community,” the group added.

In states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, the proportion of population in the country is quite high, so it is acceptable for such states to adopt family planning policies but it is unreasonable to adopt such a policy in Manipur.
IPAK added that the state is facing a continuous decline in the ethnic community, with illegal immigrants entering the state unabated.

It said that till now, one-third of the total population of the state consists of non-indigenous people and in the midst of this situation, taking the decision to limit families to only four children is unfortunate.

“The association assumed the decision of the state cabinet as a hidden agenda of the extinct indigenous population of the state,” he asserted.