Bangladesh Population Policy 2012

Socioeconomic development for every citizen is one of the major commitments laid down in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. According to clauses 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the Bangladesh Constitution formulated in 1972, it is the responsibility of the State to ensure health, education, food and security for all citizens. The Government has been undertaking various policies with a view to ensuring these constitutional rights for the people of the country. The population growth was identified as the foremost national problem in the first Five Year Plan (1973-1978) of Bangladesh. In this regard the speech delivered by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a public meeting held at the historical Suhrawardy Udyan on the 26th March, 1975 deserves close attention. He said, “My dear brothers, we should not ignore the fact that our population increases by three million every year. On the other hand, the area of our country is only 55,000 square miles. If our population continues to increase at this rate, there would be no cultivable land left in Bangladesh in 25-30 years, and the people of Bangladesh would be reduced to cannibalizing each other. That is why it is imperative that we control our population growth through family planning.”

Download: Bangladesh-Population-Policy-2012