Senior journalist Suresh Chavanke on countrywide Bharat Bachao Maha Rath Yatra to press the need for a population control law
In order to generate awareness about the disastrous consequences of the growing population imbalance and to press upon the demand of enactment of a population control law in the country, senior journalist Shri Suresh Chavanke has started a countrywide Bharat Bachao Maha Rath Yatra on February 18. The Yatra would pass through all major states of the country covering approximately 20000 km distance. The Yatra, being conducted under the banner of Rashtra Nirman Sangathan, will culminate in Delhi on April 22. It is expected to directly involve about 25 crore people.
Talking to Organiser Shri Chavanke pointed out that arrangements have been made to hold more than 2,000 public meetings during the Yatra. “The Yatra will pass through more than 5000 cities of the country, in which more than 2 lakh villages will be covered. During the Yatra, I have set the target to raise public support in the forms of signature, online application and missed calls of about 10 crore people in order to demand for population control law. The main halts for the yatra are Jammu, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Varanasi, Patna, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Tirupati, Bangalore, Kanyakumari, Mumbai, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Gandhinagar, Jaipur and Dehradun,” he said.
Shri Chavanke also pointed out that the entire yatra is being monitored through satellite-based GPS-controlled cameras. There is a convoy of about 100 vehicles in this journey. The people are being made aware of the need to bring in stringent population control law in the country through screening of short films and distribution of booklets in 22 languages. The entire journey is being shown live through various news channels and social media platforms. More than 2000 committees have been constituted to make the journey successful. Apart from thousands of workers, leaders of various social and religious organisations; many senior former army officers are also leaving no stone unturned to make the Yatra a grand success.
He said the detailed information about the historic Yatra is being given to the President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Union Ministers and leaders of all political parties. The Yatra has also received immense support from many religious gurus, scientists, social workers, teachers, various voluntary organisations across the country.
Explaining why a population control law is necessary in the country Shri Chavanke said the previous governments had started birth control campaign with the slogan of “We Two, Our Two’. But due to the lack of strictness and clarity in its implementation, the campaign’s meaningful results have not yet been achieved. Today, we have reached at a dangerous level of population where if it is not controlled by enacting and implementing a stringent law, the integrity and sovereignty of the country will be in danger and the future generations will not forgive us. “It is high time that instead of saying ‘We Two, Our Two’, we should give a new slogan ‘We Two, Our Two for Everyone’ and implement it in the letter and spirit,” he said.
He said inspite of constant efforts, India is still at 131st place in the Human Development Index, which is below even smaller countries like Sri Lanka and Maldives. In Emerging Economies, India stands at 62nd place in 74 countries. In terms of Health Index we are at 154th position among 195 countries. On Education index we are at 92nd position, which is below than Nepal, Uganda and Malé. These facts need immeidate attention of all.
— Pramod Kumar
