India, Feb. 10 -- Until the 1970s, the fertility rate in India hovered close to 6 (that is, on average, six children were born to one woman). Demographers warned of a Malthusian crisis threatening the country. Over the next five decades, the Centre successfully stabilised the population. Families were encouraged to adopt the two-child norm, and the fertility rate fell below 2.1, the replacement level. That the total fertility rate (TFR) fell from 3.4 to 2 during 1992-2019 points to the success of the State policy. This decline in fertility rate has been secular - across communities and most states. This remarkable success is now under threat from politicians, who are insensitive to women's agency. The chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were the first to talk about reversing the two-child norm. Their concern was political: Smaller populations meant a potential fall in political representation and allocation of central funds. The 16th Finance Commission, which rewarded states that reined in population growth, has, hopefully, addressed their concerns - to some extent. Now, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat wants a three-child norm to replace the two-child norm. Last week, he warned about a demographic imbalance in the country and flagged low birth rate as one of the reasons for it - conversion and infiltration were the other two reasons he cited. Bhagwat's push for a three-child norm has been interpreted as stemming from the fear that a low birth rate may lead to Hindus becoming a minority in India, though he did not make the explicit connection. In any case, there is no factual basis for this fear. For sure, TFR among Muslims (2.4) is higher than among Hindus (1.94), according to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-2021), but the rate of decline among Muslims is higher than among Hindus. Even the poor, across communities, now recognise that larger families are an economic burden and that more child births harm the mother's health. Given this, calls for families to have more children are misplaced....