AMN / WEB DESK
On the heels of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu advising people to have more children, his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin has backed his idea suggesting people to have 16 offspring. These remarks have renewed the debate over delimitation and its impact on southern states with their lower population indices.
MK Stalin, said, “Today, as we face the possibility of fewer Lok Sabha constituencies, it raises the question: why should we limit ourselves to having fewer children? Why shouldn’t we aim for 16 children?”
Speaking at a mass wedding ceremony organised of 31 couples by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department in Chennai Monday, Stalin mentioned how blessings for newly weds had changed over time, and went on to refer to an old Tamil saying from the book Manamakkalukku that enumerated 16 forms of wealth – ranging from cows and land to children and education.
Referring next to a potential reduction of South India’s share in parliamentary seats due to lower population growth rates, Stalin joked: “Why not aim for 16 children?”
Earlier on Saturday, Naidu warned against the effects on Andhra of an ageing population. Addressing a public gathering, he said his government was contemplating legislation to incentivise families to have more children, reversing earlier policies aimed at population control. The CM cautioned that a rise in the proportion of the elderly could strain the South’s economy, a phenomenon being experienced in many of the developed countries. He cited the examples of Japan, China, and parts of Europe, where ageing populations outnumber younger generations.
“In many villages, only elderly people remain as the young have migrated to cities or overseas,” Naidu said, citing that the fertility rate in southern states was well below the national average at 1.6. He promised legislation under which the government would provide benefits to families with more children.
“We are considering incentivising families with more children to encourage couples to expand their families. We have already repealed the earlier law that barred individuals with more than two children from contesting local body elections, and we will introduce a new law allowing only those with more than two children to contest,” said Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu.
This is not the first time Naidu has advocated for population growth in the state. In August, he had made similar arguments, predicting that Andhra Pradesh could face disadvantages if the population continues to decline. His primary concern lies with delimitation, which will reallocate Lok Sabha seats based on the population recorded in the next census. The Union government is yet to conduct the census.
Based on the 2011 census, population growth is expected to be higher in northern states, meaning they will likely have more representatives in Parliament than the southern states, which could put the south at a disadvantage.