Jharkhand Congress Leader and State Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon said population control was needed but it would be better for the Center to develop a policy on the issue.
Voters from the Jharkhand-led Mukti Morcha (JMM) alliance ruling Jharkhand have backed a central policy on population control amid demands for a Bharatiya Janata Party-style policy on the issue ( BJP) who ruled Uttar Pradesh.
Jharkhand Congress Leader and State Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon said population control was needed but it would be better for the Center to develop a policy on the issue. “Population policy has been introduced in Uttar Pradesh… We all know what their (BJP) agenda is. However, as an economics student, (I)… admit that we cannot afford a population explosion because it strains our resources. So there should be a balance between population and resources. But it is a national problem. The central government conducts a census every 10 years. So the Center should come up with a policy on that,” he said.
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JMM spokesman Manoj Pandey echoed Oraon and called the introduction of a population policy in Uttar Pradesh a sounding gimmick. “On the one hand, the leaders of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) are saying that Hindus should have more children and on the other hand, the BJP is bringing a (politics)… before the elections in Uttar Pradesh. …there needs to be population control. But there needs to be a look at how awareness and education could play a part in it. Instead of playing politics, the BJP government should put in place a national policy to this subject.
The opposition BJP has called on the government of Jharkhand to come up with a population control policy while welcoming its introduction in Uttar Pradesh. Ranchi BJP Lok Sabha member Sanjay Seth said it was time for all state governments to follow suit. “Anyone with more than two children should not receive any government benefits. If we don’t take strict measures now, the future generation will not forgive us. … the government of Jharkhand should prepare a policy and implement it in the state. I raised this issue in Lok Sabha and would like to see a pan-India policy on the issue.
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