'Have At Least Two Or More Children': Andhra CM Naidu Flags State’s Ageing Population

Highlighting concerns about Andhra Pradesh’s ageing population, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged people in the state to have more children. This statement, made on Saturday during an event in Amaravati, drew political reactions. It coincided with reports that the southern state is considering new legislation to incentivise larger families.

“The growth rate in the state should increase. Everyone should think about this, and families should aim to have at least two or more children. In the past, I advocated for population control, but now we need to increase the birth rate for the future…State Government is planning to bring a law that would allow only people with two or more children to contest local body elections,” Naidu said.

‘Country needs a lot of changes’

In the past, Naidu had called for a similar shift in family planning policies. During his previous tenure as Andhra CM, he had offered incentives to couples willing to have more kids. Reacting to Naidu’s statement, Madhya Pradesh Minister Kailash Vijayvargiy said, “The country needs a lot of changes, and if Chandrababu Naidu does something like this, I believe this is a good step towards improvement.”

In a post on X, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh appeared to share Naidu’s concern on the issue of population growth and “said south Indian states were pioneers in family planning.” “First to reach replacement levels of fertility was Kerala in 1988, followed by Tamil Nadu in 1993, Andhra Pradesh in 2001 and Karnataka in 2005. However, there have been concerns voiced for quite some time now that these successes could end up reducing the political representation of these states in Parliament,” Ramesh said.

“Normally, the first census after 2026 would have meant the census of 2031. But the entire decennial census schedule has been disrupted and even the census scheduled for 2021 has not been conducted. We now keep hearing that the long-delayed census will start soon. Will this be used for allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha? There can be no doubt that success should not be penalised. Suitable formulae can be worked out to ensure that this does not happen,” he added.