Andhra mulls Rs 25,000 incentive for second child to boost falling birth rate: CM Naidu

Amaravati, Mar 5 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said the state government is considering a Rs 25,000 birth incentive for couples having a second child or more to boost the falling birth rate.

Addressing the Assembly, Naidu said the government aims to raise the state’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to 2.1 from the current 1.5, which is below the replacement level.

“We are looking at a novel method. We will give Rs 25,000 to parents having a second child or more at the time of delivery itself. This will be a big game-changer. If we can do it, it will be very useful,” Naidu said.

Underscoring the importance of population management, the CM noted that several countries are facing challenges due to ageing populations.

He said the government plans to bring out a policy on population management by the end of March and implement it from April.

Moving away from the earlier population-control approach, he proposed a new population care framework based on five pillars— Matrutva, Shakti, Naipunyam, Kshema and Sanjeevani.

Under the Matrutva pillar, the government plans to reduce sterilisation and remove what Naidu described as a “perverse” incentive structure. It will also extend subsidised in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) support through PPP models to nearly 12 lakh childless couples.

The initiative will also seek to rationalise caesarean sections by bringing them below 40 per cent, including withdrawal of incentives for private C-sections and mandatory clinical audits to reduce such procedures, the CM said.

Matrutva will also address teenage pregnancies by aiming to reduce the rate from 8.8 per cent to below 3 per cent through coordinated efforts such as tracking school absenteeism and preventing child marriage.

Under the Shakti pillar, Naidu said women will be empowered through workplace infrastructure, urban housing, parental leave parity and cultural awareness campaigns, while Sanjeevani focuses on digitisation of health records.

He said Sanjeevani will enable people to access a health app with features such as wellness scores, consent-based data sharing and AI-based risk assessment.

The Kshema pillar will address the challenges of an ageing population by engaging 50,000 retired professionals over the next 10 years in mentoring and flexible employment. It will also include initiatives such as 15 days of leave for preventive health care.

The Naipunyam pillar will focus on skill development to meet future workforce needs and support the talent demand arising from 610 investment deals in the state worth over Rs 13 lakh crore.

According to Naidu, Naipunyam will also produce 10,000 certified caretakers annually under the care economy — including 5,000 child caretakers for industrial creches and 5,000 elderly care assistants.

The CM noted that Japan’s TFR has declined to 1.2, South Korea’s to 0.7, and Italy’s to 1.2. He said an ageing population and declining fertility rates could lead to workforce reduction and economic stagnation.

Andhra Pradesh had a TFR of three in 1992–93, he added.

Naidu said the state’s TFR declined to 2.2 by 2002 and further to 1.5 in 2021, noting that the situation requires a new policy approach.

He added that Tamil Nadu has a TFR of 1.4 and Kerala 1.6, while Bihar’s TFR is three.

“If we do not intervene, the population will decline faster,” he said, adding that around 6.7 lakh babies are born annually in the state.

If the current birth rate continues, Naidu said, nearly 23 per cent of Andhra Pradesh’s population will be aged by 2047. PTI STH SSK