Guwahati: In what has come after two years of adopting a population policy, the Assam Cabinet has decided to deny government jobs to people with more than two children. In September 2017, the Assam Assembly had passed the “Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam” which specified that candidates with two children would be eligible for government employment and the existing government staff were to strictly follow the two-children family norm. The policy will come into effect from January 1, 2021.

In a statement, the chief minister’s office stated that those having more than two children will not be considered for government jobs with effect from January 1, 2021, as per the small family norm.

Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was pushing for the population policy to be adopted, recently said, “While the state’s population rose by 46 lakh from 2.66 crore in 2001 to 3.12 crore in 2011, a preliminary analysis has shown that it has increased by one crore in 16 years between 2001 and 2017. This increase is not only alarming but also unacceptable.” Early marriage in communities living in char (riverine), tea gardens and tribal areas is one of the reasons behind this “alarming” increase in population, Mr Sarma said. “A very large number of girls in these areas marry between 14 and 16 years, while boys have been found to be marrying between 16 and 20 years,” he said.