 bill  no i of  2017 the population (stabilisation) bill, 2017 a billto increase the minimum age of marriage for woman from eighteen years to twenty oneyears and to establish a national population stabilisation authority to look into the schemes to encourage two-child norm and having on appropriate gap between children, incentivising adoption, creating recreational centres in villages, formulating policies wherein certain minimum criteria is present before a family can start having children and for all matters connected herewith and incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the population (stabilisation) act, 2017(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencement5(3) it shall come into force on such date, as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "annual report" means a report giving the details of developmental activities taken up over the year by the authority and detailing about targets set and achieved10(b) "authority" means the national population stabilisation authorityestablished under section 4;(c) "prescribed" means prescribed by the rules made under this act(d) "small family" means family having not more than two children3 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the minimum age for marriage for woman shall be raised from eighteen year to twenty one yearminimum age of marriage for woman54 (1) with effect from such date as the central government may, by notification, appoint, there shall be constituted, for the purposes of this act, an authority, to be known as the national population stabilisation authority consisting of the following members, namely:—constitution of national population stabilisation authority(a) director general of health services, ministry of health and family welfare—ex officio chairperson;10(b) secretaries of the union ministries of human resource development, health and family welfare and statistics and programme implementation—ex officio members;(c) director, international institute of population sciences—ex officio member; (d) director, national institute of health and family welfare—ex officio member;15(e) senior research officer or equivalent officer of population research centres, ministry of health and family welfare—ex officio member; (2) the central government shall appoint such number of officers and staff as it considers necessary for the functioning of the authority20(3) the salary, allowances and terms of conditions of services of officers and staff of the authority shall be such, as may be prescribedmeetings of the authority5 (1) the authority shall meet at such times and places and shall observe such rules of procedure in regard to transaction of business at its meetings as may be prescribed by the central government25(2) the expenditure incurred to attend meetings by the members referred to in subclauses (a) to (e) of section 4, shall be borne by their concenred controlling authoritiesfunctions of the authority6 (1) the authority shall discharge such functions as may be necessary to ensure stabilisation of population in the country and formulate a comprehensive policy within one year after its constitution under sec 4 (1) to achieve this objective30(2) without prejudice to the provisions contained in sub-section (1), the functions of the authority shall include to:—(a) undertake a baseline study to collect data about small families and to helparrive at a qualitative human dignity index which shall be completed within one year of setting up of the authority;35(b) recommend to the central government, a framework to regulate families tohave children based on certain minimum standards fixed, including the human dignity index;(c) formulate schemes to provide for subsidised health care, education uptocollege level for the first child and to the second child only if gap between children is greater than four years;(d) provide for funds to help incentivise adoption of children;40(e) establish recreational centres at panchayat level to host traditional art formsand also use them as medium to disseminate messages regarding family planning;(f) recommend to the central government penalties to those who do not followthe said policies framed by the authority;45(g) undertake, promote and publish studies relating to the indian population andthe impact of developmental schemes on population stabilisation;(h) frame syallbus for including awareness about family planning in school curriculum;(i) provide for free contraceptives and other hormone tablets through therecreational centres;5(j) conduct awareness campaigns relating to medical procedures regarding birthcontrol and strive to improve sterilisation rates among men, in particular; and(k) undertake such other activities as may be prescribed by the centralgovernment10(3) the authority shall disseminate any necessary knowledge and information collected,to the respective departments of the state governmentsannual reportand its laying before the parliament7 (1) the authority shall prepare once every year, as may be prescribed, an annualreport giving the summary of its activities, including schemes it has undertaken  and recommended to the government during the previous year and it shall contain statements of annual accounts of the authority15(2) a copy of the report shall be forwarded to the central government, and the centralgovernment shall lay the report before each house of parliament as soon as it is receivedgovernment to provide funds 8 the central government shall from time to time provide, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this act20power to remove difficulty9 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the centralgovernment, in consultation with the state governments, may make such order or give such direction, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appears to it be necessary or expedient for the removal of any difficultypower to make rules2510 the central government, in consultation with the state governments, may bynotification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act statement of objects and reasonsaccording to the last census of 2011, the population of our country stood at121 crores the government estimates that it is approximately 127 crores in 2016 and by 2025 it will be 139 crores the annual rate of growth has been about 2 per cent with a total fertility rate at 23 per cent india spans 24 per cent of the land area of the world but contains 15 per cent of the world population one fact to note is that more than 50 per cent of this population is within the reproductive age of 18—50 expert reports suggest that the population in india will stabilize only around the year 2045 this growing population creates enormous stress on infrastructure and leads to rapid usage of natural resources this population pressure leads to deterioration of the quality of basic human sustenanceour country has the largest number of under-nourished children and malnourished woman we have  one of the highest number of illiterate children in the world the huge population is one of the main reasons which has led to such a pathetic scenario the primary infrastructure needed for survival is crumbling fast this problem of un-controlled growth in population has various socio-economic reasons one major factor is that families in our country, mainly in the rural areas, equate more kids to safer livelihood the poverty prevalent in large parts of our country, creates a situation where more children means more hands to go to work and earn for the household another contributing factor has been social practices like child marriage or marriage at an early age which leads to a scenario where the first pregnancy happens early some studies also point out the idle lifestyle among people in villages, as a causative reason for this even though medical science has shown rapid advancements, lack of awareness among the rural parts of our country has still kept large portions of our society in darknessthis bill proposes to increase the minimum age of marriage of woman from 18 years to21 years this will ensure that the woman is better informed and attains greater mental maturity before having her first child also, it is proposed in this bill to constitute a national population stabilisation authority consisting of members from the concerned ministries and expert bodies this body will be responsible for stabilizing the population growth in the country it will recommend measures wherein, a family will be allowed to have a child only when certain basic living conditions are present and if they are absent, this body will take measures to provide for the same it will also bring in schemes to provide for subsidised health care and higher education along with assured job opportunities for the first child the same will be applicable for the second child only if the gap between two children is greater than four years and will be discontinued if the family has more than two children it will work to frame a policy providing for greater incentives to the girl child the body shall organise greater awareness compaigns regarding medical science relating to contraceptives and surgical birth control procedures it shall also help develop recreational centres in rural areas which will host traditional art forms to keep the community engaged and also use it as a mode of spreading the government's messagethis bill, by providing a comprehensive plan to help stabilise the population, will help to fill the long pending void for a legislation in the area of population control development in both the social and economic aspects of the people is the best solution to control population and the independent body established by this bill, will aim to work towards this objective this will result in higher standards of living for the citizens of the country, thereby creating greater quality of human capital which is much needed in india's journey to become a developed superpowerhence this billvivek gupta financial memorandumclause 4 of the bill provides for the constitution of national population stabilisation authority and also appointment of such number of officers and staffs for its functioning clause 8 makes it obligatory for the central government to provide requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this bill the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve recurring expenditure of rupees two thousand crore per annum from the consolidated fund of india a non-recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees one hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 10 of the bill gives power to the central government to make necessary rules for making rules, by notification in the official gazette for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character———— a billto increase the minimum age of marriage for woman from eighteen years to twenty oneyears and to establish a national population stabilisation authority to look into the schemes to encourage two-child norm and having on appropriate gap between children, incentivising adoption, creating recreational centres in villages, formulating policies wherein certain minimum criteria is present before a family canstart having children and for all matters connected herewith and incidental thereto————(shri vivek gupta, mp)gmgipmrnd—4423rs(s3f)—03-02-2017