Union Minister Giriraj Singh has advocated 'Nasbandi' (sterilisation) after demonetisation for population control to spur development, but the idea was trashed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as "bakwaas" (nonsense).
The Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) had come up with the idea yesterday and had said after "notebandi" (demonetisation), there is an urgent need to make laws for "nasbandi" (sterilisation) in the country.
"India has 17 per cent of the world population which adds population equal to Australia every year. The country only has 2.5 per cent of land mass of the globe with only 4.2 per cent of water resources. In this scenario, the population explosion in the country is proving to be a big roadblock for development. We need a population control act to tide over the problem," Singh had said.
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He had also reportedly talked about sterilisation to control the population growth at a function in his Nawada parliamentary constituency on Sunday last.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar trashed the idea as "bakwaas" (nonsense).
"The country has seen effect of Nasbandi earlier," he said referring to the mandatory sterilisation drive during Emergency period.
Singh's party BJP, however, chose to remain cautious
over his remark.
The party sought to distance itself from the word 'nasbandi', but asserted the need for birth control for nation's development.
"There may be some differences while choosing words to communicate one's message. What Giriraj Singh meant to say is to have birth control measures in order to check population explosion. This is the government's policy to go for birth control. Even some social organisations work in the field... I am not saying anything on Nasbandi," Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai told PTI.
Bihar Congress president and minister Ashok Choudhary told
