RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Suggests Indians to Have 3 Children Amid Declining Population Growth

Nagpur: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat, on Sunday, expressed his concerns over the decline in population growth rate in India and suggested that Indian families should have at least three children to prevent a decline in the population. Addressing an event in Nagpur, Bhagwat, citing a population policy draft, stated that in the year 1998 or 2002, India’s population policy was drafted, which said that the country’s population growth rate should not decline below 2.1.

He cited demographic science to support his claim, saying population stability was essential for a society's survival. At the event, Bhagwat said, “A decline in population is a matter of concern. Modern demographic studies indicate that when the population of a community falls below a fertility rate of 2.1, that society faces extinction.”

“It does not need external threats to vanish, it disappears on its own. Many languages and societies have ceased to exist due to this. Therefore, our population must not fall below 2.1. It should be 3. Otherwise, society will not get destroyed by others, it will perish on its own,” the RSS chief emphasized. 

“Our country’s population policy, formulated either in 1998 or 2002, clearly says that the total fertility rate should not be below 2.1. Now when we say 2.1, it is not feasible to have children in fraction. So when we say 2.1, this means it should be more, at least three. The science says so,” Bhagwat said.

India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR), or the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime, has declined from 2.2 to 2 while the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has increased from 54 per cent to 67 per cent, according to the National Family Health Survey data released in 2021.

A total fertility rate of 2.1 is considered the replacement rate, which is a crucial factor in population growth. It ensures the replacement of a woman and her partner upon death with no overall increase or decrease in numbers.

Latching on to Bhagwat’s remarks, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, “PM Modi had earlier said that Muslim women produce more children.” He also referred to Modi’s remarks that if the Congress comes to power, it will redistribute gold, including ‘Mangalsutras’, from mothers and daughters among Muslims.