4 Bills on population control in Lok Sabha today; check how many children your MP has

On Friday, three BJP Lok Sabha members and one from the JD(U) will move Private Members’ Bills on population control. Out of the four only BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan is from Uttar Pradesh, which is also in the process of drafting a state population control Bill. Incidentally, Kishan is the father of four children — three daughters and a son.

No further details, however, were made available regarding Kishan’s Bill in the Lok Sabha’s updated list of Private Members’ Business.

And the Bill proposed by Kishan’s party colleague from Bihar, Sushil Kumar Singh, seeks to set up a “National Population Planning Authority at the national level and a District Population Planning Committee in each district to encourage and promote family planning in order to ensure a population which is in tandem and commensurate with the resources and development of our nation”.

Singh has two sons and a daughter.

Another MP from Bihar, JD(U)’s Dr Alok Kumar Suman, who has two sons, is also moving a Bill that is similar in wording, drawing attention to the “implications of population momentum on the prospects of national progress in the long run”.

Suman’s bill even mentions the need to “revitalize efforts towards promoting the small family norms of up to two children per eligible couple.” 

An analysis of Lok Sabha members data shows that 168 out of 540 MPs have more than two children; out of them, 105 are from the ruling BJP. And 66 BJP MPs have three children, 26 have four and 13 have five.  Three MPs — Maulana Badruddin Ajmal of the AIUDF, Dileshwar Kamait of the JD(U), Pakauri Lal of Apna Dal — have seven children each.  Mohammad Sadique of the Congress and P Abdussamad Samadani of the IUML have six children each.

For the below data visualisation, click/tap on the bubbles to zoom in and use the arrow that appears on the right top corner to zoom out. 

Use the below search bar to find your member of Parliament by name, constituency, party and state. 

The chances of a Private Member’s Bill becoming law are dim as they seldom receive the government’s support inside the House.

According to PRS Legislative, no private members’ bills have been passed by Parliament since 1970. A total of only 14 such Bills have received Parliament’s nod to date.