STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The APCC (Assam Pradesh Congress Committee) on Friday took potshots at Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his statement – "If the population explosion continues, one day even the Kamakhya temple land will be encroached upon, that even my house will be encroached upon."
Congress has argued that the CM's statement in the context of 'population explosion' in Assam is misinformed and misleading.
"As per the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS) undertaken by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and released in December 2020, the total fertility rate (TFR) across most Indian States has declined in the last five years," said APCC Media Department Chairperson Bobbeeta Sharma.
She underlined that TFR is defined as the average number of children that would be born to a woman by the time she ends childbearing.
"A TFR of 2.1 is known as the replacement rate. The fertility rate of less than 2.1 implies that the total population will be less than the existing population which is also called the negative growth rate. Now as per the same survey above the fertility rate of women in Assam has declined from 2.2 in 2015-16 to 1.9 in 2020-21 and 1.9 is less than 2.1 which means the future population of Assam will only be less than the current population. Hence there is no question of increase in population as per the Ministry's data," Sharma underlined.
Further, she stressed that the CM's concern is valid But if he is referring to the 'population explosion' that may happen in future due to immigration of people from Bangladesh and Pakistan because of implementation of the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act).
"We at Congress party take this opportunity to assure the CM that we will take definite steps and do our best to save Kamakhya and his house from such encroachment," Sharma added.
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