Wednesday, April 2, 2025

City’s indigenous population to cross 2 lakh mark by year-end

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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.

 

 

 

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