State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that state health department has already taken several steps to control population.

He said that the health department has accorded top priority to population control for 2009-10. There has already been a decline in the population growth rate of Assam, and the next survey will make this clear.

He added that that the Janani Suraksha Yojana, which provides financial incentive of Rs 1,400 to a mother in the event of a delivery in a government hospital, would now offer another Rs 1,000 if the family concerned opted for family planning.

Institutional deliveries also helped in family planning, as the mothers invariably received the doctors’ advice on the benefits of having fewer children and the pitfalls of large families. Janani Suraksha Yojana had so far covered 3.5 lakh women, and another 2.5 lakh were to be covered in the coming days.

The minister also said that as part of the measures for popularizing family planning in the State, all the appointment letters – whether for permanent or temporary posts — from the Health Department would contain an appeal, requesting the selected candidates to opt for less than three children.