SHILLONG: The population of indigenous community in Shillong town will cross over two lakh by the end of 2017.
Speaking at the State level Advocacy meeting on world population Day 2017 here in the city on Monday, HM Shangpliang, Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare said that the population of Shillong in the year 2011 was 3. 54 lakhs including 1.75 lakh male and 1.77 lakh females.
Giving further details, the officer said that the population of indigenous community in Shillong in the year 2012 was 1.5 lakh which increased to 1.62 lakhs in the year 2013.
The population kept on increasing in the year 2014 to 1.64 lakhs and it took another jump to 1.83 lakhs in the year 2015 .
“Last year, the population of indigenous community in Shillong leaving apart the floating population was 1.98 lakh, Shangpliang said adding that the population of indigenous community is increasing by around 10000 every year in Shillong town itself.
According to Shangpliang, India will take over China in terms of population by 2030 with India having 1528 million population and China will be second in the world population with 1416 million population.
Stressing on the need to plan a family with responsibility, the official also expressed concern over the trend of teenage pregnancy and early marriage in areas outside the Shillong town.
Shangpliang said that there was a discussion in the department to talk about the concern of teenage pregnancy and early marriage with local Rangbah Shnongs and women organisations, but he felt that the issues needed be discussed with the youths rather the local Rangbah Shnongs and women organisations.
Urging youths to be stable in life with necessary jobs before settling down in life and starting a family, Shangpliang said that families should grow with responsibility.
He also rued that many women in the rural areas of the state were anaemic since they were iron deficient and still gave birth to babies without taking necessary supplements.
On the other hand, the chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of child rights (SCPCR), Meena Kharkongor, who was present on the occasion as the chief guest said that many children were being abandoned in shelter homes in the state and even outside the states since families could not afford to bring up children.
“In villages, people have 8-9 children per family and when we ask them why they have so many children , the reply we get is that the children are given by God,” she said.
Stressing on the need to empower women with education on how to go about family planning, Kharkongor pointed out that the services of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and Anganwadi workers can be utilised to create awareness in the rural areas about the family planning.
Stating that 214 million women in developing countries want to avoid pregnancy but they are not getting effective support system and information about contraceptives, Kharkongor also asked the Government to develop health care system in the rural areas.
Highlighting the need to address the problems of teenage pregnancy and early marriages in the state, Kharkongor also urged men to be supportive towards women as far as family planning was concerned.
The theme of the State level Advocacy meeting on world population Day 2017 was “ A new wave, a new belief/ trust, families proper with total responsibility.”
Senior officials from the state health department, doctors and youths were also present on the occasion.