Opposition criticizes Assam government’s two child for government job policy

Criticizing the BJP-led Assam government’s policy over two child norms for the government job, former Assam Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Tarun Gogoi said that population policy is good, but two child norms for the government job is not a good step.

“For a country like India, where no such law is there. I don’t see any justification for having such a law dehorning the people having more than two children for getting government job. I don’t support it. I don’t think it is a proper step,” Tarun Gogoi said.

He further said that it is a BJP agenda.

“Their whole aim is everybody knows that they are anti-Muslims,” Gogoi said.

On the other hand AIUDF General Secretary Aminul Islam said that it is a way to cheat the SC, ST and Muslims community as these three communities will suffer more for this policy.

Aminul said that, it is a part of upper caste politics.

“According the Assam government decision taken in the cabinet meeting, that the people having maximum two children can apply for government jobs. I think that, the government should identify the main cause for which the population growth has increased. This formula is not correct. We think that, the main causes of population growth are illiterate, poverty and the government should work to reduce poverty, to make the people literate. Those people are literate they haven’t more than two children. How many people are interested for the government job and how many people have got the government job. The population growth will be reduced if the government conducts awareness camps, health hazards etc. This SC, ST and muslims are more suffered from it,” Aminul Islam said.

On the other hand, defending the government policy, Assam Health minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma has refuted all allegations and said that: “It is wrong to assume that minority will always have more children than majority population. If that is the exemption, it is bad. I think instead of encouraging minority to have more children as a media, as a NGO, as a political party, we should work with minority people that please if at all more than two children, please bring it down to two.”

“After Assam assembly has approved our population policy, so in pursuant to population policy we have incorporated provisions in municipality and rural election that no candidates will have more than two children. Now in case of government employee, we want our government employee should be the role model for the society. So the day before yesterday, we have adopted that, no government employee will have more than two children during the time of appointment or during the time of employment. They will not have more than two children and this will operate prospectively from 2021,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Similarly, Assam Social Welfare minister and the leader of Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) – a part of the state government, Pramila Rani Brahma said that, it is a good initiative.

“The population in Assam is now imbalanced. So it is necessary to adopt this to balance the population as the people not having more than two children. It is not for the minority or hindus, the government has taken the decision to balance the population growth,” Pramila Rani Brahma said.

The Assam cabinet on Monday decided that no government jobs will be given to the persons having more than two child after Jan 1, 2021.

The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting of the Assam government held in Guwahati on Monday evening.

It is to be mentioned that, the 126-member Assam assembly had passed the “Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam” in September 2017.

(By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati)