PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
Meerut-based couple Dinesh Talwar and Disha Talwar organised a reverse walk in Dehradun on Thursday to raise awareness about the adverse effects of rising population in India, which is on track to become the most populated nation in the world. They commenced the reverse walk from Gandhi Park to Paltan Bazaar, holding posters to inform the public about the issue.
The Talwar couple stated that they began advocating against the rising population in 1994. They said that population growth continues and India has now overtaken China. They are calling for the implementation of a ‘two-child law’, emphasising that this campaign is in national interest and transcends caste and religion. They highlighted that resources are limited while the population continues to grow.
They opined that the increasing population is placing significant pressure on resources, which could lead to explosive situations at any time. Over the past 30 years, they have conducted Padyatras in more than 300 cities to inspire the common man to control population growth. Each time, they have submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister and leaders of major opposition parties, advocating for the two-child law as essential for national interest.
The couple added that they have written thousands of postcards to successive Prime Ministers about controlling population growth, sending two postcards every morning. They recalled that discussions about bringing a population control bill began in 1992 but were halted due to political struggles. Since 1994, they have been consistently demanding a two-child law, emphasising that the family planning programme initiated in 1952 has not seen significant success as the population has now reached 1.44 billion.
They said that they will continue to conduct awareness programmes about population control, stressing that it is a national issue and urging everyone to cooperate in addressing it. Additionally, they said that for the last 30 years, they have been asking to meet the Prime Minister regarding this issue but have yet to receive approval.
