JAPAN’S WORRY OVER AGEING

Japan’s Prime Minister Fabio Kishida’s advisor Masako Mori has made a scary prediction about his country. “The country will cease to exist if it can’t slow the fall in its birth rate that threatens to shatter the social safety net and economy.” The statement came after a record slump in the number of babies born in the country last year. In 2022 Japan recorded less than 8,00,000 births and around 1.58 million deaths. If the trend continues, the country will disappear. Faced with a high proportion of population aged 65 and above, the sharply declining birth rate poses several prob-

Japan’s Prime Minister Fabio Kishida’s advisor Masako Mori has made a scary prediction about his country. “The country will cease to exist if it can’t slow the fall in its birth rate that threatens to shatter the social safety net and economy” lems like weakened industrial and economic strength. Prime Minister Kishida has promised “unprecedented” steps to tackle the problem of social distortions.

Japan is not the only country which is saddled with an ageing population and falling birth rates. A report by the World Economic Forum said that fertility rates have been falling globally for the last 70 years with a total decline of 70 percent. The report attributed the main reasons for this to women’s empowerment in education and workforce, lower child mortality rate and higher cost of raising children. Ageing population, the report said, is the outcome of increased life expectancy and lower fertility rate. The increased population of silvers has its own problems like shrinking workforce and higher costs of healthcare.

As for higher education and lower fertility India is an example. The fertility rate has declined by 20 percent in 10 years and female

AT A GLANCE...

l Manik Saha defeated his nearest rival Ashish Kumar Saha of Congress by a margin of 1,257 votes. He overcame detractors within his own party who predicted a “tough time” for him in the prestigious constituency of Town Bardowali.

l Saha had only 10 months as the Chief Minister of Tripura after replacing Deb but managed to lift the state government’s image before the February 16 assembly polls.

dental surgeon, Manik Saha, managed to scramble home with the pro-people schemes or else the mood of the voters with Biplab Deb around would and could have been different for the Saffron might!

The party must reckon Saha’s contribution who also in the face of the Tsunami-like emergence of the Tipra Mohta managed a decent win and the maximum loss was inflicted on Left and Congress alliance that appeared to look as a strong contender (at least this time).

After the results, Manik Saha tweeted his thanks to PM Narendra Modi… “The landslide victory is the reflection of people’s trust in your development goals”.

The Rise Of Tipra Motha

Before the results were out on March 2, 2023, the media was full with speculations that Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma would play the role of a kingmaker or at least as a deciding factor. Now, that the results are out, it can be easily said that the thoughts were not just plain fancies. Tipra Motha, was also projected to play a key role in the formation of the government in the state. It was, however, a touch and go affair for the Tipra Motha.

Tipra Motha had also rejected proposals of an alliance from the ruling BJP as well as the CPI(M). And after the results, Tipra Motha emerged strong especially for the battered IPTA and anyone with the slightest political acumen cannot politically ignore the Tipra Motha, now. Tipra Motha alone won 13 seats. The two-year-old party proved to be a strong political force to reckon with in the tribal areas and was next only to the Saffron might.

The party fielded candidates in 42 of the 60 seats in Tripura. It may be recalled that the Tipra Motha chairperson Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma announced on the last day of the campaign in Tripura that he would resign from politics after the election and never seek votes as ‘Bubagra’ (the king).

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

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Congratulations to Dr. Manik Saha Ji and all others who took oath in Tripura today. I am confident that his team will deliver good governance to the people of Tripura and build on the pro-people & pro-poor work done in the last five years. @DrManikSaha2

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