Check population boom: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks at a meeting of the National Population Council at her office yesterday. Photo: PID
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked the ministries and departments concerned, city corporations and municipalities to beef up family planning programmes to control population boom in the country. The PM gave the directive at a meeting of the National Population Council at the Prime Minister's office yesterday. This was the first meeting of the reorganised National Population Council. The last meeting of the council, formed during the previous rule of Awami League, was held in 1996. The council consists of 60 members including the prime minister as its chairman. Prime Minister's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed the newsmen after the meeting. Addressing the meeting, Hasina called upon all to work for taking the population growth to a stable condition, saying that implementation of family planning programmes through the field level workers is needed to be started in full swing again. In this regard, she mentioned the past success of the programme involving one field worker for every 600 families. “Now we have to think how we can reactivate such programmes successfully,” the prime minister was quoted as saying by her press secretary. Hasina asked the ministries and departments concerned to give special attention to the slums and rural areas for making the people conscious about the impacts of over population. Emphasising correct and timely statistics and information, she said without flawless data on demography and various demographic trends, population cannot be managed well. About the activities of the non-government organisations (NGOs), she said outcome of their activities in various development sectors, including population, is needed to be evaluated. “The NGOs spend lot of money… outcome of the NGO activities needs to be reviewed.” She underscored the need for increasing employment which, she said, could play an effective role in population control. “I personally think our population as an asset. If we can give quality education and modern training to the people, the entire population can become a valuable asset,” Hasina said. She recalled a speech of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman given on March 26, 1975 when the great leader had said if the population continues to increase by some 30 lakh every year then after 25/30 years, there would be serious shortage of land for agriculture. The Father of the Nation had emphasised population control and adopted visionary policies in this regard, she said. Hasina said if the Father of the Nation could have implemented his policies, the country's population would remain under control.
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