Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday urged people living in South Indian states to have more children to combat an ageing crisis, reported The Times of India.
The Telugu Desam Party leader also announced plans for a legislation to incentivise people in his state to have larger families.
“The state government is thinking of bringing a law that would make only those with more than two children eligible to contest local body elections,” Naidu said.
The chief minister pointed out that Andhra Pradesh had previously enacted legislation preventing individuals with more than two children from contesting local elections. He said that his policy stance on the matter had changed.
“We have repealed that law [on August 7], and we are now considering reversing it...Government may provide more benefits to families with more children,” he was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
“At that time, the thinking was to preserve scarce natural resources, and the belief was that a growing population would hinder development,” he said. “We succeeded in reducing population growth, but that has now brought new challenges.”
“Though we have a demographic advantage until 2047, signs of ageing problem are starting to appear in South India, including Andhra,” Naidu added. “Many countries like Japan, China, and some European nations are struggling with this problem, having a larger elderly population. In south India, the problem is compounded by young people migrating to other parts of the country or abroad.”
Naidu pointed out that the fertility rate in southern states has fallen to an average of 1.6, while nationally it is 2.1. A fertility rate of 1.6 means that a woman, on average, is expected to have 1.6 children in her lifetime.
“If it declines any further, we will see a higher number of elderly people by 2047, which is not desirable,” the chief minister said. “In many villages across Andhra and other parts of the country, only elderly people remain. The younger population has moved to cities.”
In 2018, during his previous term as chief minister, Naidu had offered incentives to couples willing to have more than two children. He warned that the state could become “senile”, with more elderly citizens and fewer working hands, reported the Hindustan Times.
According to the 2011 census, Andhra Pradesh is India’s tenth most populous state with 84.6 million residents. It underwent a major demographic change when Telangana was carved out of it in 2014 as a separate state.
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