Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has announced financial incentives of Rs 30,000 for the birth of a third child and Rs 40,000 for a fourth in a family, as part of efforts to reverse the state’s declining population trend.
Addressing a public meeting at Narsannapeta in Srikakulam district on Saturday, CM Naidu said the government had taken the decision and would announce further details within a month.
“I have made a new decision. We will provide Rs 30,000 immediately after the birth of a third child and Rs 40,000 for a fourth child. Isn’t this the right decision?” Naidu said on the sidelines of the SwarnaAndhra-SwachAndhra cleanliness programme.
CM Naidu, who earlier advocated population control measures, said the time had now come for society to work together to increase the birth rate.
Naidu’s latest announcement follows an earlier proposal to provide a Rs 25,000 incentive for the birth of a second child.
On March 5, he had informed the state assembly that the state government was considering an incentive of Rs 25,000 for couples having a second child.
Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav later said that the government had decided to extend the incentives to families having a third child and beyond.
Naidu said changing social and economic trends are influencing family size, with some couples opting for a single child as incomes rise, while others choose a second child only if their firstborn is not a boy. He said this was contributing to a decline in population growth and stressed the need to maintain the replacement-level Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.1. Naidu noted that a population remains stable when the average fertility rate is 2.1 children per woman and warned that declining populations and ageing societies in several countries have hurt economic growth.
He added that declining populations and ageing societies in several countries have negatively affected their economies.
Naidu also rejected the notion that children are a burden and said that they are an asset.