india

Updated: Oct 01, 2019 11:02 IST

Former union minister and Congress leader Jitin Prasada’s support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to control population was basically an articulation of his own party’s policies that were framed decades ago but never implemented.

Jitin Prasada quoted a party declaration adopted during a three-day conclave at Madhya Pradesh’s Pachmarhi in September 1998 to seek measures to check the country’s rising population.

When he initially spoke on the issue, it was widely construed in political circles including his own party that he was looking out for a better future and cosying up to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

For, the Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech had underlined the need to tackle the challenge of population explosion in the country and cautioned that if left unaddressed, it could pose problems for future generations.

He also said those who had adopted measures to limit the size of their families have served the nation in their own way.

With 1.3 billion people, India is the world’s second-most populous country. The country’s population has increased from 361 million in 1951 to 1.2 billion in 2011. According to the latest United Nation’s population projections, India is expected to surpass China by 2024 and will have more than 1.6 billion people by 2050.

But a look at the Pachmarhi declaration clearly points out how the Congress had then made voluntary population control a key element of the party programme.

It said that any party member who becomes the parent of more than two children after January 1, 2000, would be ineligible for selection or election to any party office or for selection as a party candidate for any election.

The Congress had also asked every party activist to mobilise at least 10 families to adopt population control measures based on the two-child norm. In fact, it had mooted a national award for outstanding contributions by Congress activists in population control.

A similar award was to be given for those involved in environmental protection. The party had asked its members to plant and lend at least five saplings every year especially in around and schools and hospitals.

The workers were also tasked with monitoring anti poverty programmes at the block level to ensure that the benefits reach the targeted groups.