The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : A simple message: think small

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 12, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

A simple message: think small

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JULY 11. Students took the lead in spreading the "Girl or boy, small family is joy" message on World Population Day today.

Hundreds of students representing the National Service Scheme (NSS) from various schools and colleges took part in a rally organised by the Nehru Yuva Kendra along the Marina Beach on Sunday evening, carrying banners and wearing T-shirts, propagating the message.

Before the rally, the students organised cultural programmes on the Day's theme at the Madras University Centenary auditorium in Chepauk. Guest speakers at the programme included the former Chief Secretary, T.V. Antony, and the Vice-Chancellor, S. P. Thyagarajan.

Mr. Antony urged the students to spread the message for a small family among slum dwellers. The message was more relevant for the underprivileged and uneducated. Among the more affluent and educated sections of the society, the birth rate had slowed down, he said.

Mr. Thyagarajan recalled the resolutions of the international conference on population and development held in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994, which stressed the importance of the girl child's right to education. "The message on World Population Day is not just about population control but also about equal rights to all the children," he said, urging the students to take a pledge on the issue.

Others who spoke included the Director of Family Welfare, P.K. Rajendran, the Joint Director for School Education, A. Shankar, and the Deputy Director of All India Radio, N. Murugan.

Mr. Antony flagged off the student's rally.

Exhibition

Earlier in the day, at a function organised by the Chennai Corporation at Rajaji Hall, Triplicane, the Local Administration Minister, K.P. Anbalagan, inaugurated an exhibition on family welfare. He distributed birth certificates to people who had applied for them under a scheme to get the certificates free of cost.

Among the participants were the Deputy Mayor, R. Thiagarajan, the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board chairman, N. Balaganga, the Corporation Commissioner, M. P. Vijayakumar, and the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader in the Corporation council, V. Sukumar Babu.

Cycle rally

The Family Planning Association of India organised a cycle rally for youth, also on the Marina. A.V.M. Shanmugam of AVM Productions, flagged off the rally.

Special invitees included the NSS coordinator for Madras University, P. Mahalingam, and actress Ranjita.

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