ABSTRACT
India’s National Population Policy (NPP) of 2000 is a significant move towards a humane and effective development policy aimed at improving the overall quality of life by promoting better awareness of and access to health-care options with a focus on women. At variance with the NPP, many states had come forward with legislation that would disallow persons having more than two children to contest panchayat elections and would disqualify elected members of Panchayati Raj Institutions who had a third child after a stipulated date. This chapter analyzes the implications and consequences of the Two-Child Norm on men and women, with special reference to their reproductive rights. Population growth is an issue that requires a multi-pronged strategy and the Two-Child Norm for panchayati raj representatives has been seen as one of the ways to achieve it.
