‘Viksit Bharat’ goal can be achieved by having smaller families: Nadda

Union Health Minister J P Nadda said on Thursday that the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’ can only be achieved when the health of India’s families is well maintained and this can be accomplished by the smaller families, he stated. He said the Centre and the states need to collectively work to ensure that women can exercise their right to make family planning choices and are not burdened by unwanted pregnancy. Nadda virtually held a meeting with the states and the Union Territories (UTs) on the occasion of World Population Day. The theme of the event was ‘Healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies for the wellbeing of mother and child’. He said the Centre and the states should also ensure that the unmet needs of contraceptives are met especially in the high burden states, districts and blocks. Highlighting that one-fifth of global population is India’s, he stressed on the need to celebrate World Population Day as a reaffirmation and recommitment to working towards population stabilisation. “The goal of Viksit Bharat can only be achieved when the health of India’s families is well maintained, which can be achieved by smaller families,” he stated. “The Centre and the states need to collectively work to ensure that women can exercise their right to make family planning choices and are not burdened by unwanted pregnancy, and to ensure that unmet needs of contraceptives are met especially in the high burden states, districts and blocks,” he said. The objective of the family planning (FP) programme needs to be ‘Birth by choice and by informed choice’, he stated.