Patna University may sign MoU with IIPS to study Bihar’s demography

PATNA: The Population Research Centre (PRC) of Patna University (PU) is likely to sign an MoU with the International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, for undertaking collaborative studies on demography. A proposal to this effect was advanced by PU vice-chancellor Rash Bihari Prasad Singh while addressing a three-day national seminar on ‘Population, health and sustainable development goals: performance and prioritizing policies’ jointly organized by IIPS and PU at Wheeler Senate House here on Thursday.
Singh said population issues assume greater significance to the modern societal development as the demography is likely to set the destiny of the 21st century India. Ever-increasing population along with the rising greed of human beings is creating imbalances in nature. Consequently, nature has started reacting adversely. We have already started facing the vagaries of nature in the shape of global warming, climate change, sea level rise, droughts and floods, he said.
Inaugurating the seminar, state education minister Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma said population explosion is proving to be the biggest bottleneck in way of national development and pleaded for effective steps to check its exponential growth. He said that even though Bihar was considered to be an educationally backward state, the Nitish government has, of late, initiated several steps to improve the literacy rate and bring back the dropouts to schools. Incentives were being provided to unmarried girls who pass Intermediate or graduation examination.
The minister said it has been observed that late marriage by educated boys and girls leads to family welfare and population control. The minister released the fact sheet of IIPS-sponsored project on ‘Cause and consequences of out migration from middle Ganga plain’.
IIPS director K S James said the seminar would discuss among other issues the migration of people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and find ways to stop this ever-increasing problem. The seminar would also have a special session on health and environment wherein the experts would discuss in detail the effects of deteriorating environment on human health.
PU pro-VC Dolly Sinha said India’s economy is heavily burdened with the mounting pressure of population explosion and no positive development is possible without have a check on population growth. It is a paradox that even though our country accounts for only 2.4% of the world’s surface area, it has to support world’s 17.5% population, she added.
Seminar coordinator D A Nagadeva presented the details of technical sessions to be held in three days. PRC joint director Dilip Kumar proposed a vote of thanks.