The Supreme Court has upheld a Rajasthan rule stating that candidates with more than two children would not be eligible to apply for government jobs in the state.
Last week, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the Rajasthan government’s 2001 regulations, which prevent a candidate from seeking public office if he or she has more than two children.
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Rajasthan’s two-child policy
The petition was filed by Ram Lal Jat, a former army officer who had retired in 2017 and had applied for a constable post in the Rajasthan Police in 2018.
However, he was disqualified under Rule 24(4) of the Rajasthan Police Subordinate Service Rules, 1989, which followed the rule laid down under the Rajasthan Various Services (Amendment) Rules, 2001, which states that “no candidate shall be eligible for appointment to the job if he has more than two children on or after 1st June, 2002”.
What SC said
The complainant had unsuccessfully challenged his disqualification before the Rajasthan High Court in 2022, following which he appealed to the Supreme Court.
On February 20, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and KV Viswanathan upheld the Rajasthan High Court order.
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Supreme Court Order of 2003 on Two-Child Policy
The Supreme Court also referred to its own 2003 order which held that the classification, which disqualified candidates for having more than two living children, was not discriminatory and was contrary to the Constitution as the objective behind the provision was to promote family planning.
Two-child policy in other states
It should be noted that Rajasthan is not the only state which has a two-child policy for contesting local elections and government posts.
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Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka also have similar rules.
In 2021, the Uttar Pradesh government also proposed a Population Control Bill that, among other provisions, recommended banning violators of the two-child policy from contesting local body elections or applying for government jobs.
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