Guwahati: The Assam government on Friday formally relaxed its two-child policy for several communities, allowing members of Scheduled Tribes (ST), Scheduled Castes (SC), tea garden workers, and the Moran and Matak communities to have up to three children without losing eligibility for government jobs, local body elections or Self Help Group (SHG) incentives.
In a notification issued by Health and Family Welfare Department Commissioner and Secretary Patibandla Ashok Babu, the state announced that the amended Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam, 2025 has come into immediate effect.
The new rules modify the Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam, 2017, aligning them with the Cabinet decision taken on October 23 to exempt these communities from the state’s population control norms.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier said the relaxation was necessary to safeguard vulnerable groups from demographic decline. “If we stick to the policy, these populations will lose their distinct identities and gradually become extinct in the next 50 years,” he had warned.
Assam had implemented a strict two-child norm under the Assam Public Services (Application of Small Family Norms in Direct Recruitment) Rules, 2019, which came into force in January 2021. The two-child requirement is also applicable for contesting gaon panchayat elections, alongside minimum education and sanitation criteria, under a 2018 amendment to the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994.
ALSO READ: APCC to launch ‘Raijor Padulit Raijor Congress’ campaign to reconnect with grassroots in Assam
The ruling BJP has long advocated for strict enforcement of the two-child policy, and the Chief Minister has said the state will continue to expand its implementation across targeted schemes, even as specific communities receive exemptions.
