Women's education in rural areas holds the key to family

Meghalaya State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson M Kharkongor today said women's education in rural areas holds the key to address the issue of increasing population.

Kharkongor stressed the need to educate rural women on family planning and sought the services of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and Anganwadi workers for the same.

Asking the state government to develop health care system in rural areas, the SCPCR chairperson said, "214 million women in developing countries want to avoid pregnancy but they are not getting effective support system and information about contraceptives."

"To have proper family planning and happier and healthier families, the families themselves must voluntarily take up the cause," Kharkongor said while addressing a state level advocacy meeting on the occasion of 'Population Stabilization Fortnight'.
 

In his keynote address, National Health Mission director H M Shangpliang said quoting a UN report that India's population will surpass that of China by 2030.

As for Meghalaya, Shangpliang said, the current population is projected to be 3.21 million, registering a sharp increase from 2.9 million plus in 2011.

He stressed on the need to educate and empower people, especially the youth, on the importance of family planning through knowledge and awareness programmes.

The World Population day is an annual event, observed on July 11 every year, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. Its main objective is to highlight the causes of population explosion and put forward remedial strategies for better and healthier lives.

The World Population Day activities in Meghalaya have been observed for over a month starting with 'Mobilization Fortnight' from June 27 to July 10, 2017 and 'Population Stabilization Fortnight' from July 10-July 24, 2017.