Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Friday that his government will soon introduce a policy to encourage more children, worrying that the low birth rate of South India may affect its future representation in Parliament.
“We will soon launch a strong policy on population growth. The population is our strongest economic resource. The world is rapidly dependent on countries with large population,” he said at the Amravati summit on World Population Day. Naidu’s TDP and BJP are allies in the state and center.
He said, “To avoid a human resource crisis in the future, the fertility rate in the state must increase. Joint families are disappearing. South India has anxiety about the dwindling population. While the seats of Parliament may increase in future, the southern state can see less representation,” he said.
Naidu also quoted the famous Telugu playwright Jarajda Apprao and said: “A nation is made up of its people, not only its soil.”
The Chief Minister expressed concern that the decline in population growth would hinder economic growth.
Accepting the impact of the increasing cost of living, he said that the government would offer plans to encourage couples for children.
Among the proposals on the cards, the beneficiary families have to increase the amount of PDS rice per month from 25 kg per month to 50 kg per month, if the size of the family increases. There is another proposal to encourage women government employees to be child care centers to set up in government offices.
The story continues below this advertisement
Naidu said that in the past the state government started a movement for population control in United Andhra Pradesh, now the need is population management. He said that India’s ability to compete with developed countries is due to its population.
“Once, the population was seen as a major problem. Prior to 2004, as CM, I encouraged family planning. We also brought out those with more than two children from fighting local body elections.
He expressed concern that when the global population is increasing, the birth rate is decreasing, and the youth population is shrinking while the elderly population is increasing.
“Wherever the issue of aging becomes, development becomes stable. In rich countries, a low birth rate is becoming ideal. When the rate falls below 2.1, the population starts declining. In India, Bihar is at 3.0, Meghalaya is at 3.0, up 2.4, Jharkhand 2.4, Manipur 2.2, Tamil Nadu 1.8, Karalaan 1.8, Karalaan 1.8, Population balance, Publicity balance, a 2.1 dar,”
Population (T) Joint Family System Bharat (T) Child Care Center Government Office (T) Do-Bal Policy Amendment Bharat (T) Representation of South India (T) Fertility Rate Comparison of Indian States (T) Naidu World Population Day Speech (T) Naidu Population Policy (T) AP Government Child Scheme (T) AP Government Child Scheme (T) Less fertility rate economic impact (T)
