State improved in family planning services delivery: CM

--World Population Day observed

BHUBANESWAR: “Our State has significantly improved in family planning services delivery, both in quality and quantity since the population stabilisation movement started in Odisha in 2010,” said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik while inaugurating the “Small Family, Happy Family” campaign in the State on the occasion of the World Population Day here on Thursday.

In his speech, Patnaik said the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), one of the most important indicators that decide the success of family planning programme and population stabilisation initiative, has significantly declined in Odisha to 2.2, very close to a desired level of 2.1 which is an outstanding achievement in itself wherein the national average (2.79) is still higher than that of Odisha, he added.

“To decrease the TFR level in a few districts in the State, we need to intensify our programme with a focused and time bound manner to achieve the dream of complete stabilisation of population,” said the Chief Minister.

This year World Population Day is being observed throughout the State with launching of ‘Population Stabilisation Fortnight’ from July 11 to 24 across the State. It was preceded by a ‘Mobilisation Fortnight’ from June 27 to July 10 for creating awareness on population control and generating demand for family planning services. This year’s theme for observation was ‘Addressing Adolescent Pregnancy’ which is a very sensitive issue of reproductive health across the world. 

A newsletter ‘Inspiration’ prepared by the help of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was launched during the inauguration ceremony. Patnaik distributed awards to successful districts and doctors achieving their goals in health related issues.

State Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Damodar Rout, Health and Family Welfare Department principal secretary Pradipta Mohapatra and Director Biren Mohanty also spoke in the occasion. They said the State is witnessing a population growth of around 51 lakh in every 10 years (Census-1991, 2001 and 2011) which is affecting the State’s progress adversely.

Notably, Central Government has felicitated Odisha recently for outstanding achievement during ‘Population Stabilisation Fortnight’ carried out last year. Due to several effective and result-oriented initiatives, State’s Decadal Growth Rate has decreased to 13.97 per cent (Census-2011) which is lower than the national average 17.64 per cent that indicates the State’s significant progress in achieving the goal of population stabilization.