The Centre has told the Supreme Court that India is🍌 unequivocally against forcing family planning on its people and any coercion to have a certain number of children is counter-productive and leads to demographic distortions.
In an affidavit filed in the top court, the health ministry told the apex court that theꦯ family welfare programme in the country is voluntary in nature, which enables couples to decide the size of their family and adopt family planning methods best suited to them, according to the♓ir choice and without any compulsion.
The submission was made in response to a PIL f🅠iled by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay challenging a Delhi High Court order that dismissed a plea seeking certain steps, including two-child norm, to control the country's growing population.
The ministry said that 'public health' is a state subject and the state governments must lead theꩲ process of health sector reforms in a suitable and sustainable manner to protect the common people from health hazards.
"Improvement in the health sector can be effectively led by the state government with effective monitoring and specific intervention to control and regulate the implementation process of 🃏the guidelines and schemes in a proper perspective," it said.
"The answering respondent no. (ministry) plays a supportive and facilitative role in achieving the health care reforms and outcomes. It is reiterated that the answering respondent no. 1 merely acts as a facilitator for providing accessible and affordable health care through state-led reforms in th꧙e health sector," it said.
The ministry said that as far as implementation of the guidelines and schemes in the stateꦐs is concerned, it does not have any direct role and it is the prerogative of the respective state governments to implement the schemes as per the prescribed guidelines.
The ministry only allocates funds to state gov🦹ernments for implementation of the approved sch💝emes, it added.
The Ministry of Health And Family Welfare told t🍎he top court that India has adopted a comprehensive and holistic National Population Policy (NPP), 2000, with clearly articulated objectives, strategic themes and operational strategies.
The National Heal🗹th Policy (NHP), ♚2017 provides for a policy guidance to inform, clarify, strengthen and prioritise the role of the government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions, it said.
The N🥂HP sets out indicative, quanti✱tative goals and objectives which includes the achievement of total fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.1 by 2025.
The Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Developඣment, 1994, to which India is a signatory, is unequivocally against coercion in family planning.
"In fact, international experience shows that any coercion to have a💎 certain number of children is counter-productive and leads to demographic distortions," the ministry said.
India is witnessing a constant decline in TFR, the ministry said, addi꧙ng that the fertility rate which was 3.2 at the time when NPP was adoptꦛed has declined substantially to 2.2 as per the Sample Registration System, 2018.
The apex court had earlier sought the Centre's reply on a plea challengi🎐ng a Delhi High Court order that dismissed a PIL seeking certain steps, including two-child norm, to control the country's rising populatio🧸n.
The appeal has challenged the September 3 high court order, which said it was for Parliament and the state legislatures to enact laws and not for the court.
The PIL said the high court faile✅d to ꦦappreciate that the right to clean air, drinking water, health, peaceful sleep, shelter, livelihood, and education guaranteed under Articles 21 and 21A of the Constitution could not be secured to all citizens without controlling the population explosion.
The plea in the high court had claimed that the population of India had "marched ahead" of China, as about 20 per cent of Indians did not have Aadhaar and therefore, were not accounted for, and there were also crores of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis li💧ving illegally in the country.
It claimed th♚at "population explosion is also the root cause of corruption", apart from being a contributory factor behind heinous crimes like rape and domestic violence.
It also held population explosion respons🐟ible for pollution and the dearth of resources and jobs.
