NEW DELHI, Aug 28: The Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat has advocated for every Indian couple to have at least three kids pointing to the replacement-level birth rate of 2.1 children per woman.
Answering questions on demographic change and population control during a press conference organised on Thursday on the occasion of the RSS completing 100 years, Mr Bhagwat said experts say communities with a birth rate of less than three slowly go extinct. So, a birth rate of over three should be maintained, he said, adding that this happens in all countries.
“Doctors have told me that marrying at the right age and having three children ensures that both the parents and children remain healthy. Children in homes with three siblings also learn ego management and there is no disturbance in their family life in the future. This is what doctors have said… Our country’s population recommends a birth rate of 2.1, which is fine as an average, but you can never have 0.1 of a child. In math, 2.1 becomes 2, but when it comes to births, after two, it has to be three,” the RSS chief said.
Every Indian couple, he said, should try and have three children in the interest of the nation. “There is a concern as well. Population can be a boon, but it can be a burden as well. You have to feed everyone at the end of the day. This is why the population policy exists. So, to ensure that the population remains controlled and enough at the same time, every family should have three children but not too many more than that. This is to ensure their upbringing is proper. This is something everyone should accept,” he stressed.
Mr Bhagwat said the birth rate was decreasing for all communities and it was more visible for Hindus because it was always low. In other communities, it was higher but is now decreasing. “This is nature’s way, when resources decrease and populations rise, it happens. But everyone should prepare the new generation to have three children,” he said.
Mr Bhagwat also refuted the claims of the RSS, the ideological mentor of the BJP, has any quarrel with the BJP-led government at the Centre. It was also “not true that the RSS takes decisions for the BJP,” he added, dispelling notions that have been aired by many quarters, especially within the Opposition.
“We have good coordination with the Centre and states. There are systems that have internal contradictions… There is no quarrel in any way… we have good coordination with every government,” Mr Bhagwat said. But he conceded that while they do not always agree, the RSS trusts its members and is positive that they will “converge” at some point. “Struggle might be there but there is no quarrel. When we talk of compromise, the struggle deepens,” he said.
As for the decision-making, he said the RSS and the BJP “trust each other” and know they will “converge at some point.” “There may be opinions, but we discuss, a collective decision gets taken,” he said. There was also a small jab at what was seen as the BJP’s decision-making. Without naming anyone, Mr Bhagwat said, “Had we been taking the decisions, would it have taken so long?” The comment was seen as the BJP’s delay in naming a successor for party chief JP Nadda, who ended his official term almost two years ago – long ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Despite party sources declaring that he would be replaced, he is still functioning as the head of the organization and against the general norms in the party holding dual post of the party president and minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet. In response to another question, Mr Bhagwat also said there have been multiple instances where those who opposed the RSS have changed their stance. “We see a change in our opponents in how they see us… From Jayaprakash Narayan to Pranab Mukherjee, people have changed their views on us,” he said.
He also cited conversion and illegal migration as key reasons behind demographic imbalance and said while the government was trying to curb illegal immigration, society also needs to do its part. He asserted that religion was by individual choice and there should be no allurement or force in this.
“Conversion and illegal migration are key reasons for demographic imbalance. We should not give jobs to illegal immigrants; we should give jobs to our own people, including Muslims,” he said.
Mr Bhagwat exhorted the integration of Gurukul education with mainstream education, saying the former was not about living in an ashram but learning about the country’s traditions. Answering a question, he said he was not in favour of making Sanskrit compulsory but it was important to understand the tradition and history of the country.
“The 64 aspects of the Vedic era that are relevant should be taught. Gurukul education should be integrated into the mainstream, not replaced,” he said. “In Finland, which is a leading country in education, there is a separate university for training teachers. Many people come from abroad because the local population is small, so they accept students from all countries. “Education up to the eighth grade is conducted in the mother tongue of the students… so Gurukul education is not about going and living in an ashram, it has to be linked with mainstream,” he said.
Lauding the new National Education Policy (NEP) as the right step in the right direction, Mr Bhagwat said the education system in our country was destroyed long ago. “A new education system was introduced because we always remained in slavery to the foreign invaders who were the kings of those times. They wanted to rule this country and not develop it. So they made all the systems keeping in mind how we can rule this country… But now we are free. So we don’t just have to run the state, we have to run the people,” he said.
The RSS chief said the mindset should be built, all the information needed should be given to the children about the past, so that pride can be instilled in the children that “we are also something, we can also do it.” “We have shown that. All this had to change. A little bit has happened in the last few years and its awareness has increased,” he said.
(Manas Dasgupta)