The Hindu

Udupi, Jul 20: Home Minister V.S. Acharya said on Saturday that Udupi district topped the State in controlling population growth.

He was speaking at the World Population Day function organised by the Department of Health and Family Welfare here.

Dr. Acharya said that Udupi district had a negative population growth of minus 25 per cent in the State, while Dakshina Kannada district had minus 20 per cent population growth. But Koppal district had a 2.5 per cent and Bangalore 5 per cent population growth, he said.

The infant mortality in Udupi district was six per 1,000 compared to eight per 1,000 in western countries. Even the maternal mortality in the district was low, but life expectancy was high. “High rate of literacy has led to decline in population growth in Udupi district,” he said.

The family planning programme in the country had passed through many phases. In the 1950s the slogan was: “Hasten the first child, delay the second and stop at the third”. After a couple of decades, the emphasis was on having two children and the current day trend was to have one child. “But one child will always feel lonely. It is better to have two children as they can share their feelings and grow together,” Dr. Acharya said. He said that seven districts in the State were backward in terms of health and other parameters of human index. They were: Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, Koppal, Bijapur, Bagalkot and Bellary. The State Government was spending a lot on civic amenities in these districts, he said.

Speaking at the janaspandana at Kunjal village near Brahmavar, Dr. Acharya said that 467 petitions of the 629 received there had been cleared. The rainfall in Udupi district was the highest in the last 34 years. Consequently, some people had lost their lives and many had lost properties. The Government had released Rs. 5 crore for relief work to the district. Repair of roads in the district would be given priority, he added.

MLA Raghupati Bhat was among those present.