Nagour: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said that Indian families should have three children to ensure population stability, arguing that the official fertility benchmark of 2.1 cannot be met with just two.

Speaking at a press conference in Nagpur to mark 100 years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bhagwat explained:

"India's policy on population suggests 2.1 children, which is fine as an average. But you can never have 0.1 of a child. In maths, 2.1 becomes 2, but in births, after two, it has to be three. This is what doctors have told me." Watch the video below:

 

Bhagwat stressed that a fertility rate of just 2.1 would eventually lead to the decline of communities and suggested that a birth rate above three is healthier for demographic stability.

"Marrying at the right age and having three children ensures that both parents and children remain healthy. Families should have three children, but not beyond that, so that their upbringing is proper," he said.

The remarks come at a crucial time: while India overtook China last year to become the world’s most populous nation, the UNFPA’s 2025 State of World Population Report revealed that India’s fertility rate has fallen to 1.9, below the replacement level of 2.1.

Despite this decline, India continues to have a large youth population, with 24% aged 0-14 and 26% aged 10-24. This is not the first time Bhagwat has floated a three-child policy.

In December 2024, at an event in Nagpur, he argued that at least three children per family were needed to prevent population decline. He said India’s earlier population policies of 1998 and 2002 had already stressed that no community should fall below the 2.1 replacement rate.

"Everyone should accept that the new generation should have three children," Bhagwat concluded.