Why the Supreme Court questioned the two-child rule for panchayat elections

Prelims-testable facts

• 01The Supreme Court has questioned the constitutional validity of laws that disqualify individuals with more than two children from contesting Panchayat and other local body elections.
• 02India's declining fertility rate has been cited by the Supreme Court as a reason to re-examine the two-child norm for panchayat elections.
• 03The two-child rule was first introduced in 1993 through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, which mandated that candidates contesting Panchayat elections must not have more than two children.
• 04As of 2022, the population growth rate in India has slowed down significantly, with a total fertility rate (TFR) of 2.3, below the replacement rate of 2.1.
• 05The Supreme Court's observations on the two-child rule are based on the court's interpretation of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.
• 06No specific numerical threshold or percentage has been mentioned by the Supreme Court for determining the validity of the two-child norm.

Trap alerts

• Most people think that the two-child rule was introduced to control population growth, but actually it was introduced as a condition for contesting panchayat elections.
• Most people think that the Supreme Court has abolished the two-child rule, but actually they have only questioned its constitutional validity.