POPULATION CONTROL
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Assam Government will strictly follow the two-child norm to select beneficiaries for all welfare schemes in the coming days.
Addressing a press conference at Assam Administrative Staff College at Khanapara here on Friday afternoon Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said since the State Government has already started implementing the population control policy, selection of beneficiaries for all welfare schemes would be done based on the two-child norm. He said such exercise would be done in a systematic and phase-wise manner.
In 2017, the Assam Government drafted a policy to prevent the burgeoning population in the State. The two-child norm is a logical progression of the "Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam" drafted in 2017. Dispur has already decided that individuals with more than two children will not be eligible for government jobs after January 1, 2021.
"The Assam Population Policy would be implemented strictly. Only the families who have not more than two children will be eligible for availing benefits under welfare schemes like the Aroonady Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, etc," the Chief Minister added.
Sarma said the government would apply the population control norm even in case of selecting beneficiaries for the existing schemes such as Orunodoi and waiving of microfinance loans. He said only the tea garden community and those who belong to SC and ST will be exempted from such norms.
Responding to the latest Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) India Index Report for 2020, the Chief Minister said that data on which Assam's performance was assessed in the report was old. The SDG Index Report has placed Assam at 26th place out of 28 States with a 57 score out of 100. He said the same report has upgraded Assam from 'aspirant' to 'performing' State.
Sarma on Friday held a meeting with the North East Satellite Applications Centre to work out a mechanism as to how to use satellite imageries to effectively manage floods, erosion prevent encroachments in forests, hills, and other important sites, management of artificial floods in Guwahati, building road infrastructures in difficult and hostile areas and other development projects. He said the satellite centre has been asked to submit an action plan to the State Government.
The Assam Population Policy, adopted by the erstwhile Sarbananda Sonowal government in 2017, has mandated that only such families would be eligible for getting benefits from various government welfare schemes who have not more than two children.
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