Himachal Pradesh has joined a list of 10 states that have achieved the Centre's 'two-child per couple' target for population control.
The hill state has fulfilled the target popularised by the 'hum do humare do' (we two, ours two) campaign well before the deadline of 2010. It has achieved total fertility rate (TFR) of two or lesser children, official sources said in Shimla.
The target was set by the Centre in its National Population Policy-2000.
The state government received a congratulatory letter to this effect from Union Health Ministry last week, the sources said.
With this, Himachal joins Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, which already achieved the target.
State Health Department sources attributed the distinction to better health infrastructure in the state.
More than 75 per cent of villages have accessibility to health sub-centres within a distance of three kms and 94.5 per cent of them have a PHC within 10 kms, they said.