Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday urged the minority community to adopt a "decent family planning policy" for population control to reduce poverty.
All stakeholders in the community must come forward and support the government in helping reduce poverty in the community which is primarily due to an unabated increase in population, the chief minister said on the occasion of completion of 30 days of his government.
"The government is the guardian of all poor people but it needs the support of the minority community in tackling the issue of population growth which is the root cause of poverty, illiteracy and consequent lack of proper family planning," he said.
Mr Sarma said that his government will work towards educating the women of the community so that the problem can be tackled effectively.
The government cannot allow encroachment of temple, Satra and forest lands and members of the community have also assured the government that they do not want encroachment of these lands, he said.
The Chief Minister urged the community leaders to do an introspection and encourage people to practice population control.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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