Assam govt relaxes two-child norm for SC, ST, other communities

Guwahati, Dec 5 (PTI) The Assam government on Friday diluted the two-child norm for ST, SC, tea garden, Moran and Matak communities, amending its policy in this regard.

According to a notification, members of these groups having up to three children are eligible for government employment, contesting elections and receiving incentives for Self Help Groups (SHGs).

In the notification, the Health and Family Welfare Department Commissioner and Secretary Patibandla Ashok Babu said the order regarding abolishing the two-child norm for some select communities and relaxing it to three children has come into effect immediately.

"The Governor of Assam is pleased to enunciate the Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam (Amendment), 2025," he said.

The order stated that the Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam, 2017 has been amended accordingly.

On October 23, the Assam Cabinet had decided to abolish the two-child norm for ST, tea garden, Moran and Matak communities in respect of getting government jobs, and the notification came on Friday.

Addressing a press conference after the state cabinet, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said the government took the decision to keep these groups outside the purview of population control norms to protect them from extinction.

"If we stick to the policy, these populations will lose their distinct identities and gradually become extinct in the next 50 years," he had added.

As per the Assam Public Services (Application of Small Family Norms in Direct Recruitment) Rules, 2019, the two-child policy came into effect from January 2021.

The state also has a two-child norm, along with requirements of minimum educational qualifications and functional sanitary toilets, for contesting in gaon panchayat polls as per an amendment in 2018 to the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994.

The ruling BJP has a policy on strict implementation of two-child norm and Sarma had earlier said the Assam government would gradually implement the policy for availing benefits under specific state schemes. PTI TR NN