Karnataka needs to consider population control bill: BJP national general secretary Ravi | India News

BENGALURU: BJP national general secretary and former Karnataka minister C T Ravi on Tuesday raised a controversy by urging Karnataka to bring a population control policy, on the lines of the much debated bill introduced in Uttar Pradesh.
In a tweet, Ravi said: “It is high time Karnataka brings in a new population policy on the lines of Assam and Uttar Pradesh to control its growing population. With the limited natural resources available, it will be difficult to meet the needs of every citizen if there is a population explosion.”

Ravi was unavailable for further elaboration on the issue raised by him.
However, Karnataka law and parliamentary affairs minister Basavaraj Bommai gave a measured statement when asked about whether the state government had any intent to bring such a bill and said it needs to be discussed and debated.
“The issue of population control is a policy matter at the national level. There needs to be a detailed discussion and debate on the matter,” he said.
Meanwhile, the chief minister’s office has said that CM B S Yediyurappa has not even considered such a move.
“There has been no discussion of any kind in this regard. It is the party national secretary’s tweet and no such move has been considered till date,” said a CMO official.
Reacting to the statement by Ravi, Congress state unit president D K Shivakumar declined to comment with a hint of sarcasm.
“C T Ravi is no longer a local leader, he is a national leader. He has a lot of national issues to tackle. Let the BJP government table such a move (population control bill) in the assembly and then we can talk about it. I am a state leader,” said Shivakumar.
The UP population control bill has already seen a lot of adverse commentary with even BJP’s own ally in Bihar– the JD (U) and chief minister Nitish Kumar suggesting that it is not a practical bill to be brought about and said every state is free to initiate its own action to control the burgeoning population in the country.
As per the policy in UP, no person with more than two children will be eligible for a government job. It also carries incentive schemes for those couples who have only one or two children no matter the sex of the child.
The policy has also been considered in Assam with similar conditions being mooted.