Population boom is a boon to country

The Department of Economics of PB Siddhartha College of Arts and Science organised a lecture in the city on Saturday to mark World Population Day. Speaking on the occasion, Acharya Nagarjuna University former registrar MVN Sarma said population boom would be a boon and not a curse to the country if the valuable human resource is effectively utilised was economic growth.

The UN theme of this year’s Population Day is `Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies’ and it needs to be promoted in a big way to protect the interests of women and adolescent girls during conflicts and humanitarian disasters in the world. The female foeticide which is widely prevalent in several parts of the country, has posed a major threat to sex ratio.

“Focus should be laid on health and empowerment of women in the age group of 14 to 44 to maintain a healthy sex ratio, which is vital for the economic growth of the nation,” he said. College principal MVN Padma Rao presided. College director V Babu Rao, Head of Department of Economics M Ramesh and other faculty members were present.