P Chidambaram endorses PM Modi vision on population explosion

Endorsing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision over ‘population explosion’ and removing single-use plastic, former finance minister P Chidambaram said that it should become a people’s movement.

"All of us must welcome three announcements made by the Prime Minister on I-Day. Small family is a patriotic duty, respect wealth creators and shun single-use plastic," he said in a series of tweets.

"Of the three exhortations, I hope the Finance Minister and her legion of tax officials and investigators heard the Prime Minister's second exhortation loud and clear," the Congress leader added.

While talking about shunning the use of single-use plastics, Chidambaram tweeted, "The first and third exhortations must become people's movements. There are hundreds of dedicated voluntary organisations that are willing to lead the movements at local levels."

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech on Thursday urged people to stop using single-use plastic and encouraged the use of jute and cloth bags to protect the environment.

"During my 2014 speech, I spoke about cleanliness. It became a movement in the country and the common man took it up with gusto. Today, I have another request. By October 2, on the birth anniversary of dear Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi), I want to urge the citizens to give up single-use plastic," Modi said from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

Voicing concern over "population explosion", the prime minister said it leads to many difficulties and there was a need for the Centre as well as state governments to launch schemes to tackle it.

Keeping one's families small is an act of patriotism and those who do so deserve our respect and need to be felicitated, he said.

"Population explosion has been occurring at an unrestrained pace. This population explosion is creating innumerable challenges for us and the coming generations," the prime minister said.