AP leads in population stabilisation:Minister

Hyderabad, July 11 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh, which stands first in the country in family planning bringing down population growth to 1.8 per cent as against the national average of 2.7 per cent, targets to conduct over eight lakh family planning operations this year to ensure that the fruit of development reached all, including those below the poverty line and achieve ''social justice.'' Distributing awards to achievers on the World Population Day, Health Minister S Chandrasekar set the goal of reducing the number of children for each women to 1.5 by 2012 as against 1.8 in 2005-06.

Observing the small family norm had been widely accepted in Andhra Pradesh, he said the state had surpassed bigger populated states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal by conducting as many as 7.22 lakh sterilisations last year.

There was a steady increase in the number of sterlisations even for those with a single child from 28,408 in 2004-05 to 29,823 in 2005-06 and 35,805 in 2006-07, he noted with satisfaction and congratulated the Health Department for their concerted efforts to stabilise the state population.

The Congress Government, which had recruited 3,000 doctors, would shortly issue notification for recuritment of 500 to 600 doctors to further strengthen the public health system, he said.

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