Population stabilization needs to be brought back into focus: Azad

New Delhi, May 5 (ANI): Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday strongly advocated that population stabilization should be brought back into focus as fast growth of population negates the vision of ensuring inclusive growth for the 'Aam Admi'.

Speaking at the National Workshop on Repositioning Family Planning for maternal and child health, here Azad said that natural resources are limited and 'We have to bear in mind the carrying capacity of the land mass and the resources available at our disposal.'

However, he made it clear that he is not in favor of controlling population growth through any kind of legislation.

Azad further emphasized generating awareness and persuading people to have small family size for the betterment of the health of the mother and child.

He said that the population stabilization should be seen in the broader perspective of child survival, maternal health, women's status and employment, literacy and anti-poverty efforts.

He stressed that our population stabilization strategies must address the concerns of most vulnerable segments of society where incidence of IMR and MMR are disproportionately high.

"We need to give people access to choices and empower them to choose their family size, he said.

"By providing quality family planning services after delivery as per the need of the women will promote spacing between children and avoid unwanted pregnancies," he added.

He pointed out that while 14 States have achieved the objective of TFR of 2.1, some states are way behind and need to gear up their machinery.

The national consultation has invited participation from variety of sectors in Government, private, corporate and NGOs. The consultation will look at family planning with specific reference to maternal and child health and will deliberate on various options available in the field. (ANI)