Amaravati, May 17 (IANS) The financial incentives announced by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for the third and fourth children come amid the growing concern over the state’s declining Total Fertility Rate (TFR).

At a public meeting in Srikakulam district, the Chief Minister announced that the government will give Rs 30,000 for the third child and Rs.40,000 for the fourth child.

The veteran politician, who was a strong supporter of population control while serving as the chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh between 1995 and 2004, now believes that population is an asset and not a burden.

According to officials, the “second child onwards” incentives are similar to models implemented in France and Hungary to avoid future demographic collapse.

The declining child birth rate prompted the state government to intervene, as Chandrababu Naidu feels that lack of intervention would further aggravate the situation.

The statistics from the state’s Health Department show that Andhra Pradesh is ageing faster than India, with a median age of 32.5 years compared to the national average of 28.4 years.

Officials of the Health Department say that Andhra Pradesh has only a demographic window until 2040 before the dependency ratio skews heavily towards the elderly population.

Andhra Pradesh’s TFR has declined to 1.5 from 3.0 in 1993. The current TFR is well below the replacement level of 2.1, placing Andhra Pradesh on a trajectory similar to developed economies facing a demographic crisis, say the officials.

Ever since assuming office as the Chief Minister in 2024, Chandrababu Naidu has been pitching for population growth to improve the TFR to 2.1, which is considered ideal to maintain demographic balance.

As a first step, the coalition government headed by Chandrababu Naidu scrapped the two-child norm, which barred those with more than two children from contesting local body elections.

In March, he unveiled the Population Management Policy, claimed to be the first of its kind in the country. He believes that the policy will be a game-changer to increase the population.

He proposed various measures to address the declining birth rate. These include Rs 1,000 per month as nutrition assistance to the third child for five years and free education till 18 years.

The Chief Minister had told the state Assembly to encourage more childbirths; the government is planning to provide 12 months of maternal leave and two months of paternal leave.The

Population Management Policy document was made available online, and public representatives in every constituency were advised to hold a discussion on this issue among the people for a month.

Chandrababu Naidu had also stated that changes would be made in the policy after examining the results after a year.

The Chief Minister believes that declining TFR poses a threat to economic growth with a fall in the number of young working people. He cautioned that the state will face an ageing problem like in Japan, South Korea and Italy.

Citing the report of 2023, he pointed out that 6.70 lakh births were reported per year. If the same situation continues by 2047, the ratio of aged people will increase to 23 per cent.

He warned that if the TFR decreases further, the workforce will decline, resulting in a slowdown of economic growth.

“We are now facing the same problem that developed nations are experiencing – a growing non-working-aged population. Our focus must shift to enabling and incentivising families to have children,” state Health, Medical & Family Welfare Secretary, Sourabh Gaur, had said at a meeting.

Under the population management policy, the government is planning to introduce a five-stage lifecycle system including Matrutva (motherhood), Shakti (strength), Kshema (well-being), Naipunyam (skills), and Sanjeevani (longevity).

The government has assured support at every stage of life from pregnancy to old age. “We will support those who are childless and suffering from fertility problems. We will set up a Maternity Centre of Excellence and provide IVF services in government hospitals under the PPP mode,” the Chief Minister had said.

The Health Department recently presented the plans for the establishment of Fertility Colleges as Centres of Excellence for Reproductive Medicine. This first-of-its-kind public sector initiative will train professionals and provide state-supported IVF treatment for couples facing infertility challenges, addressing a critical barrier to sustainable population growth.

The government will also take steps to reduce caesarean sections. It has also set a target to reduce teenage pregnancies, which is currently 8.8 per cent, to less than 3 per cent.

Population Management and Human Resource Development is the third ‘sutra’ in ‘Padi Sutralu’ (10 points) under ‘Swarna Andhra Vision 2047’, reflecting a shift from population control to population sustainability.

–IANS

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