DC Edit | RSS ‘3-Kid’ Line Misguided

Mohan Bhagwat, the sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological fountainhead of the ruling BJP, has advocated a “three-child policy” in the country, ending the decades-old two-child policy citing better social skills and adaptability among children coming from large families.

The RSS-run weekly magazine Organiser attributed the RSS chief’s observation to a UN report on the state of the world's population, which warned that India's birth rate has declined to 1.9 less than the aim of maintaining the replacement level of 2.1.

Earlier, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin among others have asked people in their states to have three children to maintain the political power of their states.

While they may have some logic behind their observations, the larger question that remains unaddressed is this: Who will foot the bill? In spite of the government’s official two-child policy, several couples have preferred to have a single child because of the costly education, and exorbitant cost of social life.

Aspirational lifestyles have made starting families a costly proposition in the world. In China, tens of thousands of young people have postponed marriage for fear of a higher cost of living. The upwardly mobile and educated couples face a strange dilemma — should they give good education to their one child and help him or her build a successful career? Should they have three children and give them sub-standard education and let them fight their way in society?

If the RSS supremo is so concerned about population, he should get the BJP or NDA government at the Centre and the 36 states and Union Territories to offer high quality education, best healthcare and livable housing to people at affordable cost. Let’s hope the RSS supremo can help people get their basic needs met.