New Delhi, Jul 11 (IANS): On World Population Day, Bihar’s Rural Works Department Minister, Ashok Chaudhary, spoke about population control, describing it as an issue that requires meaningful discussion.

He expressed concern that despite the country’s progress in various sectors, such as mining, electricity production, and living standards, rapid population growth hampers the ability to provide adequate resources.

“For instance, although we are now producing significantly more electricity than we targeted 25 years ago, we still cannot supply power to all due to the rising population,” he said.

Ashok Chaudhary emphasised the need for meaningful discussions on this issue before reaching any conclusions.

He stressed that in a democratic country, the implementation of a population control law cannot be decided arbitrarily, instead proper debate is necessary, involving all stakeholders, including political parties and civil society, to formulate an effective policy.

Meanwhile, speaking to IANS regarding several bridge collapses in Bihar recently, he said that the collapsed bridges were under construction and admitted to lapses.

He pointed out that the engineers were not careful and SOPs were not followed.

“Teams from IIT and machines have been called in to examine the bridges. If the investigation reveals that proper measurements were not followed, the engineers involved will be dismissed, and FIRs will be lodged against the contractors”, he said.

In the last three weeks, 16 bridges have collapsed in Bihar and the Opposition is continuously questioning Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s government on the issue of poor infrastructure development.