 bill no  87 of  2017 the population (stabilisation) bill, 2017 by dr  ramesh pokhriyal 'nishank' 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 intothe schemes to encourage two-child norm and having an appropriate gapbetween children, incentivising adoption, creating recreational centresin villages, formulating policies wherein certain minimum criteria ispresent before a family can start having children and for allmatters  connected herewith or 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 commencementdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "annual report" means a report giving the details of developmental activities taken up and targets set and achieved over the year by the authority;(b) "authority" means the national population stabilisation authority established under section 4;5(c) "prescribed" means prescribed by the rules made under this act; and (d) "small family" means family having not more than two living children3 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the minimum age for marriage for woman shall be twenty one yearsminimum age of marriage for woman104 (1) with effect from such date as the central government may, by notification in official gazette appoint, there shall be constituted, for the purposes of this act, an authority to be known as the national population stabilisation authorityconstitution of national population stabilisation authority(2) the authority shall consist of:—15(a) the director general of health services, ministry of health and family welfare—ex-officio chairperson;(b) the secretaries of the union ministries of human resource development, health and family welfare and statistics and programme implementation— ex-officio members;(c) the director, international institute of population sciences—ex-officio member;20(d) the director, national institute of health and family welfare—ex-officio member;(e) senior research officer or equivalent officer of population research centres, ministry of health and family welfare—ex-officio member;25(3) the central government shall appoint such number of officers and staff as it considers necessary for the functioning of the authority(4) the salary and allowances payable to, and terms and conditions of services of officers and staff of the authority shall be such as may be prescribedmeetings of the authority5 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 prescribed30functions 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 to achieve the purposes of this act35(2) without prejudice to the provisions contained in sub-section (1), the authority shall—(a) undertake a baseline study to collect data about small families and to help arrive at a qualitative human dignity index which shall be completed within one year of setting up of the authority;40(b) recommend to the central government, a framework to regulate families to have children based on certain minimum standards fixed, including the human dignity index;(c) formulate schemes to provide for subsidised healthcare, education upto college 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;45(e) establish recreational centres at panchayat level to host traditional art forms and 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;5(g) undertake, promote and publish studies relating to the indian populationand the impact of developmental schemes on population stabilisation;(h) frame syllabus for including awareness about family planning in schoolcurriculum;(i) provide for free contraceptives devices through the recreational centres;10(j) conduct awareness compaigns 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 centralgovernment15(3) the authority shall disseminate any necessary knowledge and information collected, to the respective departments of the state governments7 (1) the authority shall prepare once every year, a report giving the summary of its activities undertaken during the previous year and statement of annual accounts to the central government in such form and manner as may be prescribedannual report and its laying before the parliament(2) the central government shall cause such report to be laid before each house of parliament as soon as it is received208 the central government shall, from time to time, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, provide requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide funds25power 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 difficulty:provided that no such order shall be made under this section after the expiry of three years from the date of commencement of this act30power to make rules10 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the provisions of this act35(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions, aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have affect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement  of  objects  and  reasonsaccording to the last census of 2011, the population of our country stood at one hundred and twenty-one crores the government estimates that it is approxiamtely one hundred and twenty-seven crores in 2016 and by 2025 it will be one hundred and thirty-nine 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 years 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 lifestly 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 darknessthe bill seeks to increase the minimum age of marriage of woman from 18 years to21 years this will ensrue 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 membes 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 healthcare 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 campaigns 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 billnew delhi;ramesh pokhriyal 'nishank'march 31, 2017 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 expenditure from the  consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees two thousand crore per annum from the consolidated fund of indiaa 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 empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a 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 intothe schemes to encourage two-child norm and having an appropriate gapbetween children, incentivising adoption, creating recreational centresin villages, formulating policies wherein certain minimum criteria ispresent before a family can start having children and for allmatters connected herewith or incidental thereto————(dr ramesh pokhriyal 'nishank', mp)gmgipmrnd—556ls(s3)—24-06-2017