Punishing the Poor

The Maharashtra government announcement that those who have more than two children will not be entitled to subsidised foodgrains and some other welfare benefits is an extraordinarily insensitive and ill-considered decision, which abrogates several hard won rights. In its eagerness to reach the demographic ‘progress’ achieved by other states with high and growing economic indices, Maharashtra is about to launch itself on a course which can only lead to painful repercussions for the people.

Besides, it is also impractical and unlikely to achieve the demographic results for which the state is so desperately aiming. In the recent past, the demographic changes observed in Tamil Nadu and Kerala or Andhra Pradesh were not a result of such narrow measures. In Tamil Nadu the deceleration in the growth of fertility rate has been attributed to rising work participation rates for women; in Kerala to improvement of human development indices and availability of medical services; and in Andhra to broadening awareness of contraception, increasing accessibility of reliable family planning services and revitalisation of health services. For that matter, throughout the long history of the family planning programme in India, it has been clear that disincentives and punitive measures do not work.