Understanding the Population and Demographic Challenge

ic dividend. China is getting old.

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We are going to remain young for the next 30 years. We also have to think about the population. How many people can our country feed after 50 years? A comprehensive policy is required," he had said. In 2004 and 2015, the RSS passed resolutions on population control policy. In 2015, VHP leader Champat Rai said family planning "was not a personal matter for Hindus anymore and if they adhered to the one-child norm, Muslims would take over the country."

Responding to Bhagwat's remarks, former MP Rakesh Sinha told TNIE that by advocating a three-child norm, the RSS chief addressed a crucial concern of decline in the young population. In 2019, Sinha, then a BJP MP, moved a private member's bill proposing that every government employee shall give an undertaking to "not procreate more than two children" and to reward those who follow the two-child policy. Sinha is of the view that demographic imbalance, in terms of the rising population of Muslims vis-a-vis Hindus, is a major concern. "As per the 2011 Census, the Hindu population is decreasing in the country. We can't deny that truth," said Sinha. While Sinha withdrew the bill later, he said there was no contradiction with the government on it.