The new cash incentives announced by N. Chandrababu Naidu are intended to give a push to the birth of more children in Andhra Pradesh, with an incentive of ₹30,000 per child for the birth of a third child and ₹40,000 for the birth of a fourth child. The government has done this in order to remedy a “declining population trend,” according to the Chief Minister.
During a public gathering in Narsannapeta, Srikakulam district, while stating the government had made a “new decision” towards encouraging bigger families. He also added that detailed guidelines of the scheme would be available in a month’s time.
The Chief Minister has admitted that his attitude has changed over the years, but, due to these demographic changes, a different approach is needed with the theme of population control. Lower birthrates could have implications for the state’s long-term economic growth and its available workforce, he emphasized.
Naidu also mentioned the earlier discussions in the Assembly where the government had announced incentives amounting to ₹25,000 for the family of two children. He said there were numerous situation, where the families were opting to have only one child thanks to their increased financial capability while some wished to go for a second child only after the first child being a boy, placing an off the lower preference upon the preference level which is still being felt.
Highlighting the need for a Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.1 for sustainable demographics, Naidu cautioned on the economic problems that were already being experienced by a few ageing countries – suffering from declining working populations. “Andhra Pradesh has to tread cautiously and act in time to prevent such demographic squeezes in the future,” he noted.