Education, development key to slowing Assam’s population growth: Padma Shri Dr Ilias Ali

Guwahati, Aug 14: All-round development of all areas of the State and improvement of the education system are the keys to check population growth in Assam, said noted surgeon Dr Ilias Ali, who has been working tirelessly for educating people about the need for population control.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, Dr Ali, who has been working for population control in Assam since 1993, said that when he started efforts to educate people, he had faced strong resistance from people, particularly in the backward and char areas. But the situation has now improved. According to figures released by the Centre, the population growth rate has come down considerably. But still, there is a lot to be done in this regard, he admitted.

Dr Ali, who received the Padma Shri award for his role in population control, said that there was a time when child marriage and polygamy were quite common among a section of society. It contributed to a high population growth rate. He said that lack of education and poverty were some of the factors leading to population growth.

“There was a time when parents considered children as an insurance policy. As the infant mortality rate was high in the backward areas, the parents thought that if one dies, there will be others,” he said.

“Moreover, the children were put to work at a very early age, which brought income to the family,” Dr Ali added.

Dr Ali further said that the char areas were out of reach of the administration, and the Health Department personnel visited those places rarely to provide birth control materials. The situation worsened during the Assam agitation when Health officials and nurses totally stopped going to chars and other places dominated by the people of minority communities, and the birth rate increased considerably in those areas during that time.

However, Dr Ali said that the situation is now improving, and girls’ education played a key role in this regard. He pointed out that about two decades back, very few girls of the minority community were enrolled in schools, but now the situation has changed. In some places, the enrolment of girls is even higher than that of boys. That played a key role in controlling the population.

Dr Ali also pointed out that in advanced countries of the world, population growth is very low, and in fact, the Government has to encourage people to give birth. “If all-round development takes place in all the areas of Assam, the birth rate will automatically come down,” he added.