Who’s questioning your right? Just be responsible!

‘Impregnating your own wife? Could land you behind bars’ was a recent post. Here’s one of the comments:

The Govt is not the deciding factor on the no. of children a couple has. That’s a personal consideration a couple has to make. Not the Government!!! Having stated that India is a Democracy, taking away the right of parents to cohabit/procreate without the interference of outside forces, defeats democracy - freedom to act - in a big way.

Well, here’s what I have to say:

Of course, to cohabit and procreate is a person’s right. I’m not denying that. In a democracy you have a lot of freedom—freedom of speech, to practice your religion, to assemble peacefully and protest etc. But any freedom a citizen is entitled to should be taken with responsibility.

Having freedom of speech does not mean you can abuse or slander anyone. That’s why there is the facility of a defamation case in the law. The freedom to practice your religion does not give you the right to be intolerant to other religions. If an assembly of people turns violent, threatening the society, the law has provisions like imposing a curfew. And if a state slips into a disorder and lawlessness, the constitution even has provision for President’s Rule.

It’s when responsible behavior is thrown to the winds that the state/govt has to step in and maintain the peaceful fabric of the society.

Choosing a person to live with is also an individual choice. But is it right to go on a choosing and changing spree? I don’t think so. And so the law considers polygamy/polyandry illegal.

I respect and accept a person’s desire to become a parent. Won’t that desire be satisfied with one, or at the most two children? Will he/she be satiated only if there are five or six, or even a dozen children?

Here, I’ll digress to tell you the story of my house maid. I give her Rs 500 a month for cleaning my house on alternate days. She works in three other households. So she earns Rs 2,000 a month. And if she were to spend the amount of her children—4 of them—it‘s Rs 500 for a child. Now, when she does some extra work at home, I tip her, quite generously. It brings a smile to her face as she says that she can buy a vegetable for dinner today.

Simple fact: Less mouths to feed, the better food you get.

India is facing a serious population explosion issue. The figure 1.26 billion speaks for itself. The challenges that the government faces are about providing food security, education, and employment—just to name three.

We have the world’s highest infant mortality rate, highest number of undernourished children and uneducated/unemployed populace. Ever wondered why?  One main reasons is that we have too many mouths to feed and too many little ones that health care doesn’t reach them.

Now, like my reader commented it’s your prerogative. You can have two or two dozen children. But understand that you are being irresponsible causing a huge burden on the government. If you ask me, It’s not wrong to take tough decisions to lighten this ever-increasing burden.

Sooraj Singh

Editor-in-chief
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