TG Assembly clears bill to do away with two-child norm

Hyderabad: The Telangana Legislative Assembly on Saturday passed a bill to do away with the two-child norm that disqualifies individuals with more than two children from contesting local body elections. Panchayat Raj Minister Danasari Anasuya Seethakka, who moved the Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2026, said the two-child norm was introduced in 1994 as a population control measure to overcome the challenges of food security, unemployment and poverty associated with the the population explosion in the 1980s and 90s.

However, the government reviewed population policy 30 years after the two-child rule. The fertility rate in rural areas in Telangana is 1.7 which is less than the replacement rate. If the fertility rate continued at 1.7, it would adversely affect the interests of Telangana’s population, she said. The government felt that it is necessary to have the replacement rate at 2.1 in view of the long term future of coming generations and also after taking into consideration the views of representatives of Panchayat Raj institutions, she said.

Observing that citizens are now having less number of children, Seethakka said a steep decline in population growth would lead to undesirable consequences. The government is proposing an amendment to the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018 to improve the declining fertility rate and also for conducting local body polls, she said. The bill was passed by the House later and it replaces an ordinance issued earlier for the same purpose.