New Delhi, July 11 BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring an ordinance to control India's population which, he claimed, was linked to how much "atmanirbhar" or self-reliant the country became.
Interestingly, he cited the example of China, calling it "mahashakti" or superpower, and credited the communist country's rise in the world pecking order to its population control measures.
"Parliament is difficult to run due to the coronavirus epidemic; so, you are requested to immediately bring an effective population control ordinance to stop the population explosion. The law should be strong and effective. Ration card, voter ID card, Aadhaar card, bank account, electricity and mobile connections of individuals who violate it should be cancelled/revoked, the BJP leader wrote in his letter to Modi on the occasion of International Population Day.
Upadhyay advocated a lifetime ban on violators vis-a-vis applying for government jobs, contesting elections, forming political parties, and even becoming party officials.
"Such people should be denied all government facilities, including access government schools and hospital facilities and should be sent to jail for 10 years," he opined.
Upadhyay claimed that contrary to official figures, India's actual population was around 150 crore, considering the Rohingya refugees and illegal Bangladeshis living in India, as well as "unaccounted Ind".
"Most taxpayers follow the 'we two-our two' rule; but it's the freeloaders who are causing the population explosion," Upadhyay alleged.
Blaming India's population for more than 50 per cent of its problems, he also connected the failure on the population control front to the rising crime rate.
Citing parliamentary records from 1976 and a recent Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court, the BJP leader argued it would be virtually impossible for India to generate jobs if it refused to sternly control its population growth.
"At present, 70,000 births are recorded daily in India. That is two-and-a-half crore children in 2020. It's impossible for any country to create 2.5 crore new jobs every year," Upadhyay reasoned.
Last year, in his Independence Day speech, Modi had said: "There is one issue I want to highlight today: Population explosion. We have to think 'can we do justice to the aspirations of our children?' There is a need to have greater discussion and awareness on population explosion."
( With inputs from IANS )