Controversy over Two-Child Norm in Bhavnagar Panchayat Elections

Women’s Participation in Governance & Planning

In Bhavnagar, candidates contesting panchayat elections were asked to fill an unofficial sheet on the number of children they had, to enforce the two-child norm. Civil society groups, including Mahila Swaraj Abhiyan, criticized the approach for creating confusion and discouraging rural participation, raising concerns about coercion and governance transparency.