Recent data show Telangana has experienced one of the sharpest declines in birth rates nationally over the past five years, prompting the state government to push for removing its two-child rule for contesting local elections.
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Telangana has seen a marked reduction in fertility, placing it among India’s top states for decline in recent years. In response, the state government has also moved to abolish the two-child limit for local body elections, thereby widening access to civic participation while aligning policy with shifting demographic realities.
Over the past half decade, Telangana has recorded one of the steepest declines in birth rates in India. Analysts say this reflects broader demographic transitions, falling fertility, and improved family planning uptake in the state. The trend is so pronounced that the government is now reconsidering a decades-old electoral rule tied to controlling population growth.
Under the existing law, individuals with more than two children were disqualified from contesting in local body elections. That restriction, originally adopted in 1994 in the undivided Andhra Pradesh, was carried forward into the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act of 2018. But with the birth rate softening sharply, the Congress government led by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has decided to issue an ordinance to revoke this two-child norm for upcoming local body polls.
The cabinet has already approved moving ahead with this change, and the amendment is expected to be introduced in the state legislature soon. Officials argue that demographics have outpaced the law: what was once considered a population control measure is now potentially limiting democratic access and electoral participation.
Policy experts note that this recalibration is also tied to fears that states which successfully loosen population control measures might lose representation during future delimitation exercises. Scrapping the two-child norm could help Telangana manage representation, electoral competitiveness, and demographic balance.
“When our fertility rates fall, the rules designed for expansion must evolve democracy should not penalize shrinking numbers.”
By
HB Team
