Holding that growing population was coming in the way of development in the country, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday rooted for initiating population control measures compulsorily in the country.
“Since population has become a major impediment in the development process, time has come to control population in the country. Until we look at the issue of population carefully and do something about it, we will not be able to deal with development issues effectively. If we people do not agree to take population control measures themselves, then we will have to make population control compulsory in the country,” Raj said.
While participating in a programme organised by a leading Marathi television channel, the MNS chief created a sensation in the state political circles by speaking about the population control issue.
“I have spoken to some leaders at the Centre on the need for controlling population in the country. I do not know why people are afraid to talk about this issue. I am given to understand that some thinking has already started at the Centre,” Raj said.
The MNS chief said that the people should realise that they stood to benefit if they had less number of children. “The issue should not be looked at from the angle of religion. Be it Hindus or Muslims, there should be uniformity when it comes to population control,” he said.
Coming up with logic of his own while pushing for population control in the country, Raj said: “There is a ban on driving vehicles under the influence of alcohol. If people are booked in such cases, they are either fined or sent to jail. Because, the number of people driving vehicles under the influence of alcohol has come down. Similarly, if we are to achieve good objectives, we need to make certain things compulsory”.
Holding politicians responsible for the phenomenal growth of population in the country, Raj said: “Irrespective of affiliations, the political parties should come together and work towards building a consensus on the issue. For instance, thanks to the population growth, many small places in Maharashtra have now become towns with large populations”.
Replying to a question, Raj said: “What is progress all about? I do not think building roads, bridges and seeing mobile phones in the hands of people can in any way be called progress.
The question we have to pose ourselves: have we made any progress as a country in terms of thinking? What is the barometer for progress in the country? Even now, the electoral issues have not changed. We still talk about good roads, electricity and education. That being the case, where is the progress that we have made has all gone?”.
The MNS chief slammed the successive governments in the state for continuing to regularise slums in Mumbai over the years.”Initially the cut-off deadline for regularising the slums was 1990, then it was 1995, 2000,2005 and 2020. Keeping their political vote banks in mind, the successive governments continued to extend the cut-off year to regularise the slums. When will this slum regularisation game end? If we continue like this, we will destroy Mumbai. This is the state of affairs in all cities in the country. As a result, taxpayers are not getting what they want,” he said.