SRINAGAR: A Private Member’s Bill moved by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA from Pulwama Waheed-ur-Rehman Para, seeking measures to address demographic decline while strengthening women’s and maternal health, has been admitted for consideration in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
Titled ‘The Protection of Kashmir’s Future Generations from Demographic Decline and Advancement of Women, Adolescent Girls, Maternal and Child Health Bill, 2026’, the proposed legislation is also referred to as the ‘Maa-Beti Aur Aane Wali Naslein Bachao Bill, 2026’.
Para had submitted the notice for the Bill to the Legislative Assembly Secretariat on August 25.
The Bill comes as the J&K Assembly is set to begin its 10-day autumn session in Srinagar on Monday, September 21. The provisional calendar provides for consideration of Private Members’ Bills during the session.
The proposed legislation seeks to create a statutory framework covering menstrual hygiene, reproductive health, girls’ education, maternal and child healthcare, family support and demographic research.
In its statement of objects and reasons, the Bill says Jammu and Kashmir is undergoing a demographic transition marked by declining fertility, changing family structures, delayed marriage and childbearing and increasing educational and economic pressures on young families.
It cites the National Family Health Survey-5 to put the Total Fertility Rate in Jammu and Kashmir at around 1.4 children per woman, below the conventional replacement level of 2.1.
The proposed law, however, stresses that it would not seek to compel women to marry, conceive or have a particular number of children. Instead, it proposes removing economic, educational, healthcare and social barriers that may affect women and couples in making voluntary and informed choices regarding family formation and parenthood.
Among its key proposals is free availability of sanitary products for girl students in government and government-aided schools, colleges and educational institutions. It also proposes extending free or subsidised sanitary products to vulnerable and economically weaker sections and establishing menstrual-hygiene distribution centres in rural and underserved areas.
The Bill further proposes sanitary-product vending machines in educational institutions, safe menstrual-waste disposal facilities and standards for menstrual-friendly schools and colleges.
It also seeks a government programme for adolescent and young women’s reproductive health, covering menstrual health, puberty, nutrition, anaemia, PCOS, menstrual disorders, reproductive-system health and awareness regarding health-related myths and stigma.
Another provision proposes free annual health screening for girl students from Class VIII, subject to age-appropriate clinical protocols. The proposed screening may include haemoglobin and anaemia assessment, nutritional and menstrual-health assessments, screening for symptoms suggestive of PCOS and referral to healthcare facilities where required.
On education, the Bill seeks measures to help girls and young women below 30 continue and complete their education after interruptions caused by marriage, pregnancy, motherhood, poverty, illness, disability, displacement or family circumstances.
It proposes scholarships, fee waivers, hostel and transport assistance, digital-learning support and re-entry programmes, including bridge courses and distance-learning options.
The proposed legislation also envisages subsidised maternal healthcare, including antenatal care, diagnostic tests, institutional delivery, emergency obstetric care, high-risk pregnancy management, postnatal care and newborn services.
A 100-bedded Maternity and Child-Care Hospital in Pulwama is among the specific proposals included in the Bill. The proposed facility would provide obstetric services, high-risk pregnancy care, neonatal intensive care, paediatric care, diagnostics, postnatal care and other specialised services.
The Bill also proposes a voluntary Family Support and Demographic Stabilisation Scheme, which may include financial assistance, scholarships, childcare, maternity support, housing-related assistance, nutrition and healthcare support.
It proposes graded support for eligible families raising two or more children, including scholarship support for the second and third child, while making it clear that benefits would not be denied merely because a family has fewer than two children.
The proposed legislation additionally calls for stronger enforcement of the law against sex selection, monitoring of ultrasound and diagnostic facilities and a confidential mechanism for reporting suspected violations.
For demographic monitoring, the Bill proposes a Jammu and Kashmir Demographic Research and Monitoring Cell to study fertility trends, age structure, marriage patterns, maternal and child health, female education, migration, workforce participation and economic pressures affecting family formation.
The Bill proposes that its implementation be based on dignity, equality, privacy, reproductive autonomy, voluntary and informed choice and non-coercion in matters concerning marriage, contraception, pregnancy and childbirth.
The Assembly session will commence in Srinagar on September 21 and is scheduled to continue till September 30. Private Members’ Bills are scheduled for consideration on September 24, with another sitting for such Bills on September 28.
