New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made a provision in this year’s interim budget to constitute a High Power Committee to comprehensively consider the challenges arising from rapidly increasing population and demographic changes. Probably this is the result of the continuous voice being raised for population control across the country.

This is why on August 15, 2019, on the occasion of the first Independence Day after the formation of his second government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort for population control to strive for a good future for their next generation by becoming responsible parents.

Before making any kind of policy regarding population control, it was necessary to abolish different personal laws and implement a uniform civil code for all communities. It was started by the Uttarakhand government of Pushkar Singh Dhami with the formation of an expert committee to prepare the draft of the Uniform Civil Code in the year 2022. After long discussions with the people of Uttarakhand and stakeholders, the draft of the Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand, 2024, submitted by the Expert Committee to the Government of Uttarakhand, was passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly on February 7, 2024. At present, the work of preparing its rules and regulations is being done by another committee. Soon after the rules are prepared, the Uniform Civil Code will be implemented in Uttarakhand.

Many other states and central governments are also waiting for the same. Now the eyes of the country are on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2024, on the occasion of the first Independence Day after the formation of his third government, whether he will be able to make laws like Uniform Civil Code and Population Control in the country during his tenure of this coalition government?

To fulfil his dream of One Nation One Election, it is also necessary that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should quickly complete the census which has been postponed since 2021 and constitute a Delimitation Commission. Demographic changes also affect Indian politics.

In some Lok Sabha, MPs are elected with less than one lakh votes and in others with more than 20 lakh votes. Demographic change will also be a big challenge for the new delimitation. Probably, keeping this demographic change in mind, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the formation of a High Power Committee. But no information about the formation of that committee is available yet. Is this because the government is not with full majority this time? Will this topic be put on the back burner again? The idea of forming such a committee would undoubtedly be with a vision of a bright future for the country by addressing the challenges arising from the rapidly increasing population and demographic changes.

But due to political constraints, our country, which was the first in the world to initiate family planning, has today become the most populous country in the world. Will the efforts being made by the Central Government on this subject again fall prey to political compulsions? If the Central Government wants to realise its Nation First sentiment in the real sense, then it should not stop its efforts in this direction, leaving aside the compulsions of the coalition government.

The recent incident in Hathras has shocked all the countrymen. While all the political parties are accusing the government of not making proper arrangements, they must also consider how the people of our country get trapped in the trap of blind devotion and fall prey to the sorceries of fake babas. Just think that those people who do not understand what is right and what is wrong for their and their children’s future and those who are unable to make the right decisions for their family properly, they are the ones who elect the leaders to run the country.

Prime Minister Modi also said in his address on August 15, 2019, that the number of children in the family should be according to one’s resources and the same applies to the country as well. The country, which has about 2.4 per cent of the world’s land area and only 4 per cent of water, is home to about 18 per cent of the world’s population. The main reason for many problems spreading in India like unemployment, poverty, hunger, pollution, and illiteracy is the population of the country not being commensurate with the resources. Those who point to India’s population as the biggest reason for it becoming the world’s third-largest economy must look at the resources and population of the developed countries of the world.

Today, while most of the edible foods in our country are not pure, the potable water and the air to breathe have also become polluted. Due to these reasons, today our country has become the capital of diseases like cancer and problems like pollution in the world. Due to the increasing population in India, the cultivable land is continuously decreasing and due to family partitions, the size of the fields is becoming smaller. This is the biggest reason for the problems of farmers in the country.

But our leaders are busy only treating the symptoms instead of treating the underlying disease. Every political party is busy distributing taxpayers’ money in the name of getting votes. An example of which we have clearly seen in the lines to take Rs 8,500 after the results of this Lok Sabha election. There is a need for the intellectuals of the country to stop only earning money for their future generations and start putting pressure on all political parties and their leaders to enact population control laws, otherwise, in the future, their children will not be able to use the money earned by them.

Now it is up to the intellectuals and taxpayers of the country to think about what kind of India they want to leave behind for their children. Today, every intellectual, taxpayer, woman and youth of the country is looking towards Prime Minister Modi with hopeful eyes to see what he has to say on the occasion of this Independence Day on the subject of the challenges arising from the rapidly increasing population and demographic change.

(Manu Gaur is a population expert and Member, Expert Committee, Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand)

–IANS

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Kolkata, July 11 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have tracked at least 25 bank accounts opened in the name of third parties, which were used for inward and outward remissions of the ill-gotten proceeds in the municipalities’ recruitment case in West Bengal, said sources on Thursday.

A close examination of these bank accounts revealed that multiple high-value inward remissions, each amounting to a few lakhs, were credited to these accounts and were also debited from those accounts within hours.

On questioning the official account holders, the Central agency sleuths came to know that they were either the existing or past employees of the corporate entity owned by the arrested private promoter Ayan Sil, also a co-accused in the multi-crore cash-for-school- job case.

The CBI officials interrogated some of these official account holders who confessed that they were forced by Sil to open the accounts. They were also forced to submit entire supporting documents like passbooks, chequebooks and even debit cards to Sil. The official account holders had no authority to operate those accounts, sources added.

The second interesting factor in the scam, as revealed by the investigating officials, is how a section of the middlemen, all linked to Sil, used this process to earn hefty amounts from two avenues.

The first income was a commission from the recipients or the ultimate beneficiaries or the recipients of the proceeds in the alleged scam. At the same time, this section of agents also collected commissions from those candidates after they got appointment letters.

The scam allegedly took place in multiple civic bodies between 2014 and 2018.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 11 (IANS) Karnataka Police issued a notice to BJP MLA from Dakshina Kannada District, Y Bharat Shetty, on Thursday and asked him to appear for questioning over derogatory remarks against Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.

Shetty on Monday stirred a major controversy by saying that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi should be locked up inside Parliament and slapped for his alleged anti-Hindu remarks.

Kavoor police issued a notice to Shetty asking him to appear before them within three days.

The police registered a case against him under the Sections 351 (3) (criminal intimidation, insult), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The complaint was registered by Anil Kumar, a Congress leader in this regard.

“LoP Rahul Gandhi should be locked up and slapped inside Parliament. This act will lead to the filing of seven to eight FIRs. If LoP Rahul Gandhi comes to Mangaluru city, we will arrange the same for him,” Shetty said.

He said that LoP Rahul Gandhi was holding a picture of Lord Shiva.

“That madman does not know that if Lord Shiva opened his third eye, he would turn into ashes. They have adopted an anti-Hindu policy. It is evident that LoP Rahul Gandhi is a madman. He thinks that Hindus will quietly listen to whatever he says about them,” Shetty said.

He claimed that it is the “BJP’s duty to protect Hindu religion and institutions. The Congress has begun to convey that Hindus and Hindutva are different. Hindus will face danger in the future because of such leaders.”

“Shivaji and Maharana Pratap were born in the Hindu community. We will take out weapons whenever there is a need. We know very well how to retaliate after worshipping the weapons,” he said.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 11 (IANS) The Karnataka Lokayukta conducted raids at 56 locations, including residences, offices and other properties of some officials on Thursday in connection with a disproportionate assets case.

Sources said that more than a hundred officials were involved in the raid.

According to sources, simultaneous raids were conducted against 11 government officials. The operation was initiated based on allegations of acquiring assets disproportionate to known sources of income. The simultaneous raids were conducted in Bengaluru, Kolar, Mandya, Mysuru, Chitradurga, Kalaburagi, Belagavi and Hassan districts.

The sleuths have obtained a search warrant from the court to conduct searches, inspections and seizures.

In Bengaluru, the residence of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and his relatives were raided.

A raid was being conducted on the house of a Tahsildar in Kolar city, and inspections were underway. Meanwhile, a raid was conducted on the house of a Grade-1 Secretary in Hassan. His houses in Hassan and Bengaluru were being inspected.

Lokayukta raids have also taken place in Mandya and Mysore. In Mysore, Lokayukta officials raided the house of a superintendent engineer in the irrigation department. Officials were conducting inspections at his residence in J.C. Nagar, Mysuru. Additionally, documents were being examined at the Gokulam office.

In Mandya, raids were conducted on the houses of a retired executive engineer and his relatives. The raids took place at three locations in Mandya district and two locations in Mysuru. In Mandya district’s Ijjlaghatta village, a farmhouse belonging to him, his father’s house, and a jelly crusher were also raided.

In Chitradurga, a raid was conducted on the house and farmhouse belonging to a retired engineer. The places included his farmhouse in Sugur, Hiriyur taluk, and a bottle factory near Aimangala, sources stated.

The official statement is yet to be made by the Lokayukta over the raids.

–IANS

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Visakhapatnam, July 11 (IANS) The accused in the murder of a minor girl in Andhra Pradesh’s Anakapalle district has allegedly committed suicide, police said on Thursday.

Police, who were on the hunt for the accused for four days, found Bodabathula Suresh’s decomposed body on the outskirts of Koppigondapalem village of Rambilli Mandal.

Police suspect that the accused consumed poison to kill himself. His body was shifted to the government hospital, Anakapalle for autopsy.

Suresh (26) had fatally stabbed a 14-year-old minor girl, studying in Class 9, in Koppigondapalem village on July 6.

Police had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to those who provide information about the absconding accused.

Hailing from Koppungundupalem in Rambilli mandal, Suresh was working as a driver.

The accused used to stalk the minor girl and wanted to marry her when she came of age. However, the girl’s parents had rejected his proposal. As she continued to harass the girl, her parents had lodged a complaint with the police in April.

Suresh was arrested and sent to jail under relevant sections of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. After coming out on bail a few weeks ago, he decided to take revenge on the victim, holding her responsible for his imprisonment.

On July 6 when the victim’s parents were out on work, Suresh barged into her house and slit her throat.

After committing the crime, he went into hiding. Police had constituted 12 teams to nab him.

Suresh had reportedly left behind a note stating that he will either live or die with the girl.

Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairman Kesali Apparao and Mahila Commission member Geddam Uma visited the girl’s village and inquired about the incident.

They underscored the need for police to keep a tab on persons arrested in POCSO and drug trafficking cases, and later released on bail.

YSR Congress Party Mahila Wing president and MLC Varudu Kalyani has criticised the State government for failing to nab the accused.

–IANS

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