SC issues notice to Centre on population control plea

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Central government on a petition seeking direction to the Centre to frame rules, regulations and guidelines to effectively mitigate the problem of overpopulation.

A bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy sought a response from the government and tagged the matter along with similar pending pleas.

The petition filed by Dandi Swami Jeetendranand Saraswatee, General Secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, stated that every year population is increasing but the natural resources are limited and cannot sustain the ever-increasing population.

The State cannot look another way round when there is a drastic increase in unemployment and poverty, limitation of food supply, health care facilities etc, added the PIL.

The PIL sought direction to the Central government to frame effective rules, regulations and guidelines in order to protect the fundamental rights of millions of citizens of India due to the problem of overpopulation.

It said that overpopulation is one of the most significant factors giving rise to several serious problems adversely affecting the quality of life of millions of Indian citizens.

The plea also sought direction to the government to declare the first Sunday of every month as 'Health Day' to spread awareness about overpopulation and for distribution of contraceptive pills, condoms, vaccines etc. to EWS and BPL families, with polio vaccines.

"In the alternative, direct the Law Commission of India to prepare a comprehensive Report on Population control measures within three months and submit the same to the Respondents (government) for due consideration," the plea added.

The petitioner said he has realised, "The basic fundamental rights like the Right to live with human dignity, Right to clean air, Right to drinking water, Right to health, Right to shelter, Right to livelihood and Right to education guaranteed under the Constitution will remain elusive unless the Respondents give due consideration to the proposals made by the National Commission to Review the working of the Constitution (NCRWC) to mitigate the problem of overpopulation."

At present, the population of India is close to 1.39 billion which is about 17.8% population of the world, but India has only 2% of agricultural land and only 4% drinking water of the world.

In the USA, 10,000 children are born every day whereas in India 70,000 children are born every day, the plea claimed.