Mumbai, August 31: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has reiterated the need to control population even as choosing not to support efforts made during Emergency to achieve the objective.
Speaking at a function in Bhopal on Sunday, Chouhan had lauded the efforts made by Sanjay Gandhi during Emergency for population control. Chouhan blamed population growth for high malnutrition rates in Madhya Pradesh. During a function organised by ASSOCHAM in Mumbai on Monday, however, he said: “What I am saying is that if our state has to develop, there has to be population control. However, it need not be done forcibly. Madhya Pradesh has the highest population growth rate in the country where in 10 years, we have added population equivalent to Australia. All our schemes and development are affected due to population growth.”
“There is need for awareness about this issue. It is applicable not just to our state, but for the entire country.”
Speaking on a range of industrial issues, Chouhan said after Chhattisgarh was formed, mineral industries had shifted there. “It is not as if the entire mineral industry has gone there, there is still diamond, coal, bauxite, limestone and marble in MP. But many industries did go to Chhattisgarh,” he said.
Chouhan said the MP government is going to ensure surplus power by 2013. “In the next three years, we will generate 5,000 megawatts through 13 power plants some of which are with the NTPC. There are also private companies like Reliance, Essar, Jaypee,” he added.
On the missing trucks with explosives which left Madhya Pradesh and were not traced, Chouhan said, “We are investigating the licences of the explosives carrier. Earlier there was no system in place to check the delivery of explosives. We installed this system and that is when the incident came to light. We are investigating the matter.”
——–Agencies