Srinagar, Sep 20: Senior PDP leader and MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para has proposed a private member’s bill seeking a comprehensive framework to address declining fertility in Jammu and Kashmir while strengthening healthcare, education and social support for women and adolescent girls.
Titled ‘Protection of Kashmir’s Future Generations from Demographic Decline and Advancement of Women, Adolescent Girls, Maternal and Child Health Bill, 2026’, the proposed legislation has been forwarded to the Assembly Secretariat for consideration during the 10-day Autumn session which is scheduled to begin here on September 21.
The Bill, also known as ‘Maa-Beti Aur Aane Wali Naslein Bachao Bill, 2026’, seeks to combine measures for women’s health and empowerment with voluntary and non-coercive measures intended to address the long-term consequences of sustained below-replacement fertility.
The Bill’s statement of objects and reasons identifies “declining fertility and changing family structures” as key demographic developments in Jammu and Kashmir.
It cites the National Family Health Survey-5 and states that the total fertility rate in Jammu and Kashmir was approximately 1.4 children per woman, below the conventional replacement-level fertility rate of 2.1.
According to the Bill, the demographic transition has implications for the future age structure of society, inter-generational support systems, rural communities, labour-force availability, social security and the sustainability of families and communities.
It connects the demographic shift with growing educational and economic pressures on young people, delays in marriage and childbearing, and wider concerns over the health and well-being of women and adolescent girls.
A central feature of the proposed approach is the creation of a “voluntary, non-coercive and inclusive Family Support and Demographic Stabilisation Scheme”. The scheme is intended to reduce economic and social barriers to family formation.
The Bill proposes that such support may include financial assistance, educational scholarships, childcare support, maternity assistance, housing-related assistance, nutritional support, healthcare and crèche facilities.
It also proposes graded financial and educational support for eligible families raising two or more children, including additional social-security assistance and scholarship support.
It also calls for strict, transparent and time-bound enforcement of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, along with stronger monitoring of ultrasound and diagnostic facilities.
The proposed framework includes periodic inspections, record verification and compliance audits, with violations to be dealt with under the applicable Central law.
A confidential mechanism for reporting suspected sex-selection activities is also proposed. The identity of complainants would be protected to the extent permitted by law, while the government may prescribe a reward scheme for information leading to successful enforcement action, subject to safeguards against false or malicious complaints.
The Bill also calls for sustained public-awareness campaigns against sex selection, female foeticide and discrimination against the girl child, as well as against dowry-related practices and denial of education to girls.
To track the demographic transition, the Bill also proposes a Jammu and Kashmir Demographic Research and Monitoring Cell.
The proposed body would study fertility trends, age structure, marriage patterns, maternal and child health, female education, migration, workforce participation and economic pressures affecting family formation.
It would also publish an annual Jammu and Kashmir Demographic and Family Well-being Report, providing a proposed institutional mechanism for monitoring demographic and family-related indicators.
The Bill further proposes a Kashmir Girls and Women’s Health Mission to coordinate implementation, covering community awareness, school and college programmes, menstrual-health campaigns, PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) awareness, nutrition and anaemia programmes, reproductive-health camps, maternal and child-health awareness, educational continuation and demographic research.
It also proposes a Jammu and Kashmir Council for Women, Girls and Future Generations, along with district-level committees to monitor areas including free sanitary-product availability, maternal-health services, education re-entry, child healthcare and implementation of government schemes.
The Bill acknowledges that implementation would require expenditure from public funds, including for reproductive-health clinics, sanitary products, vending machines, menstrual-waste facilities, health screening, educational scholarships and re-entry programmes, childcare facilities, maternal and child-health services, community outreach and demographic research.
It proposes adequate budgetary provision and a dedicated ‘Women, Girls and Future Generations Fund’, with expenditure subject to applicable financial rules and audit.
A specific provision of the Bill proposes the establishment of a 100-bed Maternity and Child-Care Hospital in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.
The proposed hospital would provide antenatal and obstetric services, high-risk pregnancy care, emergency obstetric care, neonatal intensive care, paediatric care, diagnostics, ultrasonography, postnatal care, breastfeeding support and maternal nutrition services.
The Bill’s policy declaration sets out its broader approach in terms of ensuring that girls do not miss school because they cannot afford menstrual products, and young women do not have to abandon education because of marriage or motherhood, among others.
It concludes by stating that the objective is not to control women or dictate family size, but to remove economic, educational, healthcare and social barriers affecting motherhood, education, healthcare and family life, while protecting the constitutional dignity, equality, privacy and autonomy of women and girls.
