Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Check erosion in quality of life: Baby

Population concerns: Education Minister M.A. baby delivering the inaugural address at a seminar organised in connection with World Population Day; and (right) Youth Congress activists staging a black flag demonstration when Mr. Baby arrived at the venue, in the city on Friday.

Thiruvananthapuram: Minister for Education M.A. Baby said here on Friday that the State’s society could see a serious erosion in the quality of life unless efforts were made to arrest the factors threatening to undermine the past achievements in the health and education sectors.

Delivering the inaugural address at a seminar organised by the State Resource Centre in connection with the World Population Day (July 11), he said high suicide rate, obesity and the incidence of physical and mental health problems pointed to the emergence of an ailing society.

The Minister said school textbooks had a crucial role to play in addressing this social problem. “There is no doubt that education offers the most effective intervention for family health and the physical and mental well being of individuals,” Mr. Baby said.

He said social and political health were also important indicators of the condition of a society. “In the past, Kerala could boast of a quality of life comparable to that in the West because of the emphasis on literacy, education and the education of women,” he said.

He, however, observed that the periodic outbreak of epidemics and the increasing vulnerability to diseases were symptomatic of an unhealthy society.

Mr. Baby said the Department of Education had chalked out a grassroots-level programme to improve the health profile of the State. “We have finalised a project to improve the quality of the noon meal scheme in schools with the help of local self-government institutions. Another project to improve physical fitness will be taken up at the school level, he added.

“The total literacy project and equivalency programme will be stepped up as they are crucial elements in the drive. Sanitation programmes will also be initiated,” he said.

State Resource Centre chairman James Varghese presided over the function. National Literacy Mission executive committee member Palode Ravi and SRC governing body member D. Jayachandran also spoke. Earlier, Youth Congress activists staged a black flag demonstration when Mr. Baby arrived at the venue.

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