Consider steps to curb population growth, SC tells government

New Delhi, Aug 26 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday asked the government to consider the suggestion by a PIL petitioner seeking steps to contain the uncontrolled growth of population that will make India the most populous country by 2030 and lead to a staggering 170 crore people in 2060.

Asking how could the court direct the government on the policies to be followed to control population growth, a bench of Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice S.A. Bobde asked the government to consider the suggestion made by the Avishek Goenka in his petition also.

Disposing off the petition, the court said for the implementation of the policies to control population, there has to be a political will, not court directions.

Goenka, in his PIL, said the "uneducated who incidentally are also poor, give birth in higher numbers, but do not contribute as a productive resource as because they are caught in a vicious cycle of poverty and the same prevents them from accessing the resource of good education, food and health".

While it is being projected that the next world war will be for natural resources, the PIL said "we as a nation cannot let a scenario evolve, wherein our citizens will fight among themselves for natural resources".

As per Living Planet Report, from WWF, Zoological Society of London & Global Footprint Network, which was published in London's Daily Mail, if consumption patterns do not change, humans will need 2.75 Earths to survive by 2030, the PIL said.

Seeking the review of the polices, the PIL said that "the governments might argue that, they have been making sincere efforts all along but if they are not delivering targeted results - then for sure policies have to be reworked and redeployed".

Seeking the innovative ways to shape the thinking of the people, Goenka said: "The minds of uneducated have to be penetrated through use of innovative tools and deployed at places where such people have more accessibility. It is unbecoming of humanity to live a pitiable life devoid of essential resources which define standard living parameters."