New Delhi: A day after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma appealed to the minorities in the state to adopt population control measures, the opposition Congress on Friday tried to grill him with government statistics. However, BJP leaders hailed the CM's statement and went ahead by saying that the Assam Assembly should pass two-child policy norms.
Quoting National Family Health Survey (NFHS), Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma said, “As per the NFHS survey the fertility rate of women in Assam has declined from 2.2 in 2015-16 to 1.9 in 2020-21 and 1.9 is less than 2.1 which means the future population of Assam will only be less than the current population. Hence there is no question of increase in population…,” said Sharma.
Read:| Himanta urges minority community to adopt 'decent family planning policy' for poverty reduction
The Chief Minister has said that if the population explosion continues, there will be no space for living which will ultimately lead to conflict. As per the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS) undertaken by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and released in December 2020 the total fertility rate (TFR) across most Indian states have declined in the last five years, the Congress spokesperson said.
“Therefore, the statement of the Chief Minister in this context about population ‘explosion’ in Assam is certainly misleading. But if the CM is referring to the population explosion that may happen in future due to immigration of people from other countries because of implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) then perhaps CM’s concern is valid,” said Sharma.
Referring to the Chief Minister’s statement that if the population explosion continues, one day even the Kamakhya temple land will be encroached upon, the APCC spokesperson said that as a Chief Minister he should be well versed with the demographic facts of the state. “We at the Congress party take this opportunity to assure the CM that we will do our best to save Kamakhya and his (CM’s) house from such encroachment,” said Sharma.
However, BJP MP from Guwahati Queen Oja defended the CM's statement and said that people should adopt population control measures. Referring to Sarma’s statement on the minority community, Oja said that a majority of their population is unaware of population explosion. “It’s time that they should also be made aware of the challenges of population explosion,” said Oja. She suggested that the State government should strongly implement two-child policy norms.
Read:| VHP backs call for population control
Himanta Biswa Sarma’s predecessor Sarbananda Sonowal in October last announced that no government jobs will be given to persons having more than two children after January 1, 2021. Earlier the Assam Assembly in September 2017 had passed the ‘Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam’ that specified that job candidates with two children only would be eligible for government employment and the existing government staff were to strictly follow the two children family norm.
The All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU), however, hailed Sarma’s statement and said that the State government should do more awareness drives especially in rural areas to educate people on family planning. “We welcome the statement made by the Chief Minister. All sections of people in society should adhere to the small family formula. From our end, we are ready to provide the government with all possible support,” former President of AAMSU Azizur Rahman told ETV Bharat.
Chief Minister Sarma also appealed to leaders from AAMSU and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) to work on this issue and spread awareness on women's education. However, AIUDF leader Hafiz Rafiqul Islam was sceptical over CM’s statement. “Instead of saying that a particular community has more children, the CM should work on controlling it and find solutions. Even CM has 6-7 siblings, the Assembly Speaker has 8 siblings…,” said Islam.
It may be mentioned here that the BJP government at the Centre has always been advocating a two-child policy. In fact, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also advocated a similar view for the implementation of a two-child policy in the country.
