The N Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh is considering announcing incentives for couples who wish to have three children as part of its initiatives to encourage a rise in the state’s fertility rates.
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Speaking to the media ahead of his government’s fulfilment of one in power in Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Naidu announced that there will be significant incentives for larger families. He assumed office as chief minister on June 12 last year.
The chief minister said he dreams of houses filled with children, making every home lively with large families. This will soon be released as a policy.
Population boosting initiatives
The NDA government in the state has already begun implementing policies to increase the population. Restrictions on women’s maternity leave have already been removed. This is one of the measures Chief Minister Naidu is taking to encourage more births, as the state is facing a low fertility rate.
Currently, Andhra Pradesh follows a two-child policy. This rule applies to maternity leave and contesting local body elections. This means that women are not eligible for maternity leave for a third child. Similarly, those with more than two children are not allowed to contest local body elections.
In this context, Chandrababu Naidu is providing freedom to couples to have three or more children.
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Family planning in India
For the past 50 years, family planning policies have been in effect in the country. Before that, all families were large, with some having five, six, or even up to 10 children. It was in that context that the family planning policy came into effect.
Gradually, people were encouraged to undergo family planning operations with attractive slogans and incentives. The first slogan was ‘Small family, happy family’. This was further clarified by saying ‘two or three children are enough.’
Later, when even this family size was considered a burden, the slogan ‘We two, ours two’ was introduced. After that, considering that it would be difficult to raise children in the current economic conditions with even smaller families, the slogan ‘One or two are enough’ was introduced. This spread widely among the public. Young couples began to decide the size of their families.
This time, the slogan came not from the government, but from society itself: the ‘One or nil’ slogan. This spread across the world. Eventually, the number of people who didn’t want children increased, and the population began to decline.
Also read: India’s fertility rate going down, every woman must have 3 kids: RSS chief
The increasing trend has raised serious concerns among many governments across the world who fear their population will face a shortage of youth in the next 50 years.
Andhra’s fertility rate needs to increase: CM
Naidu seems to have understood the enormity of the problem and the need for population growth in Andhra Pradesh after a visit to countries like Japan.
“I want to give incentives to families. There will be huge incentives for large families,” the chief minister told the media.
He stated that the time has come to review the strategies adopted by the southern states regarding population control.
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“Andhra Pradesh’s fertility rate needs to increase. At the current rate, the state will face many problems in the future. To prevent this problem, I am thinking about larger families if there are more children,” he said.
Relaxed rules
Referring to Andhra Pradesh’s recent move to lift restrictions on maternity leave, he said, “Previously, maternity leave was only for two deliveries. We have lifted that rule now.”
Watch | Why Naidu is asking South Indian families to have more kids
Similarly, he also stated that every organisation and workplace will have to set up a childcare centre. He also reminded that every school-going student in the state receives Rs 15,000 per year. This money is directly deposited into the mother’s bank account.
(This story was originally published in The Federal Andhra Pradesh)