Naidu hails limit on Parliament seats

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, DEC. 14. The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, has welcomed the Centre's decision to place a moratorium on increasing seats in Parliament as otherwise it would amount to rewarding States faring poorly in controlling population.

He said he had personally urged the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, not to reopen this issue as it was illogical to give more benefits to States which had failed to promote the small family norm. In fact, all the good work done by Kerala, Tamil Nadu, AP and Karnataka in family welfare was being nullified by just one State such as Uttar Pradesh or Bihar, he observed.

The Chief Minister was speaking at a function where he presented the Ninth Rotary India Award 2000 to Mrs. Chander Kanta Gharyal, an IAS officer of Tamil Nadu, for her outstanding contribution to Population Stabilisation and Development in India. The annual award, instituted by the Rotary Awards for Service to Humanity (India) Trust, carries a cheque of Rs. 2 lakhs and a citation.

Endorsing the Centre's move to fix 1971 census as the base for devolution of funds to the States, he said all State Governments must give incentives for couples observing the small family norm. His own Government had decided to extend benefits only to those couples who follow the small family norm with effect from April 1, 2000.

Other disincentives include disqualification of persons with more than two children from contesting polls to cooperatives and local bodies. Besides, he had announced that Telugu Desam Party leaders with more than two children would be ineligible for holding any organisational posts, he added.

Mr. Naidu pointed out that India would exceed China's population of 1.26 billion in less than two decades if the present growth rate continued unchecked. Explaining the importance the State Government was attaching to population control, he said he was confident that AP would achieve a total fertility rate of 0.8 by 2010 against the deadline of 2020 fixed in the Vision document.

Earlier, Mr. Bichai Rattakul, former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand and Rotary International President-nominee, said the population growth rate in his country had come down from 2.8 per 100 to 1.5 within a short span of time. Singapore had achieved a zero growth rate, a factor that was now worrying its leaders.

In her acceptance speech, Mrs. Gariyali, who is Vice- Chairperson of Science City in Chennai and earlier served as Director of Family Welfare, said every political party must give top priority to implementing the small family norm. She said her biggest achievement was in issuing an order that no male consent was required for undergoing tubectomy.

Mrs. Justice Sujatha Manohar, former Supreme Court Judge and chairperson of the jury, read out the citation while Mr. Rajender K. Saboo, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Mr. Sudarshan Agarwal, member, National Human Rights Commission, Mr. V. Jawahar, Rotary District Governor, and others addressed the gathering.

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