Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is pushing people to enlarge their families, and urged couples to have more children.
Expressing concern about the ageing population of southern states, especially Andhra, underlined the seriousness of his thought by saying that his government was planning to bring in legislation to make only those with more than two children eligible to contest local body elections.
“We are thinking of providing incentives to families with more kids, encouraging couples to have more children. We have repealed the earlier law barring people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. We will bring in a new law to make only those with more than two children eligible to contest,” Naidu said on Saturday at a function to resume construction work at Amaravati that had been halted under the previous government.
Noting that India’s average population growth has declined from 6.2 per cent in 1950s to 2.1 in 2021, Naidu pointed out that the rate is down to 1.6 per cent in Andhra Pradesh.
In several districts, there were only elderly people residing in villages as the younger generation migrated to different parts of the country and abroad, Naidu observed.
“We are already in deficit. Having fewer than two children leads to rapid decline of the young population. Having more than two kids will ensure a stable population,” he said.
Citing the examples of Japan, China and European countries, Naidu said India has a demographic advantage only till 2047.
“After 2047, there will be more elderly people than young in Andhra Pradesh. It is already happening in Japan, China, and many countries of Europe. Having more children is also your responsibility. You are not doing it for yourself, it is also for the benefit of the nation, it is a service to society also,” Naidu said.
While the average age of the population in Andhra is currently 32, it would go up to 40 by 2047.
On August 7, the state Cabinet repealed the rule that barred those with more than two children from contesting in local body elections.
“I was staunchly in favour of population control once upon a time, and brought in legislation barring persons having more than two children from contesting elections… I was afraid that a huge population would cause shortages of water, land, and other resources. You listened to me and brought down the population in Andhra Pradesh in just 10 years. Now, I am afraid that we won’t have enough young population in our state,” Naidu warned.
