A demand for measures to control the burgeoning population in the country was made in the Rajya Sabha on Monday with ruling BJP members stating that development work will be outpaced by such a high rate of growth. Raising the issue through a Zero Hour mention, Ashok Bajpai (BJP) said India will by 2022 overtake China to be the world's most populous country in the world and by 2050 would house 1.66 billion people.

"Some steps need to be taken to control the population," he said. Population growth will outpace development work, he said.

Supporting the issue, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar (BJP) said India's population has increased from 36 crore at the time of Independence to an estimated 135 crore now. It is increasing at the rate of 2 crore people per annum.

India has just 2.4 per cent of total landmass on earth but 17.5 per cent of the world population, he said. He said children were being born in the name of 'Bhagwan' and 'Allah'."

Javed Ali Khan (SP) raised the issue of several institutions, which were created for education and financing needs of minorities, lying almost defunct in absence of timely appointments.

He said the Maulana Azad Educational Foundation has no director for three years and only six months back an appointment made, he said, adding there was no chairman of the National Minority Development Financial Corporation for a similar period and a head was appointed only three months back.

No appointment has been made at the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities since it submitted a report two years back, he said.

Noting that the National Commission for Minority Institutions does not have a chairman or member for the past four years, he said the functioning of the institution which gives recognition to a minority institution is paralysed and over 7,000 applications pending.

While Manish Gupta (TMC) raised the issue of acute shortage of anti-rabies vaccination in West Bengal, Ram Kumar Kashyap (Ind) wanted village panchyats with no land of their own to be identified and assistance given to them.

Ravi Prakash Verma (SP) alleged a bank manager-broker nexus in giving loans to enterprises on commission basis under the Mudra Yojana.

Anil Baluni (BJP) wanted a unit of NDRF to be permanently stationed in his home state of Uttarakhand which has witnessed natural calamities like cloud burst and floods caused by heavy rainfall.

L Hanumanthaiah (Congress) wanted the mechanism of regional recruitment boards for filling vacancies at banks be restored in place of a centralised recruitment process so as to give persons with knowledge of local language preference.

Motilal Vora (Congress) wanted strict punishment to human traffickers while Ram Vichar Netam (BJP) demanded food items be sold at airports at MRP.

Husain Dalwai (Congress) raised the issue of Maratha agitation in Maharashtra over demand for quota in education and jobs.