What Chandrababu Naidu really means when he calls for Andhra couples to have more children
Though concerns about falling populations are expressed in political and economic terms, they actually mask acute cultural anxieties.
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At an event on October 21, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu encouraged couples to have more children. Noting that the state’s average population growth has declined to 1.6%, he said that Andhra Pradesh was “already in deficit”.
“Having more than two children will ensure a stable population,” he declared.
Naidu’s concerns are not unique. Around the world, countries as disparate as Poland and South America are trying to find solutions for their decreasing fertility rates. In May, a Lancet study of global fertility in 204 countries said, “...Human civilisation is rapidly converging on a sustained low-fertility reality.”
As countries notch up more deaths than births, their total populations will start to decline. It also means that the number of the elderly will grow – presenting the economic challenge of having to support them with a smaller labour force of younger workers.
In Andhra Pradesh, Naidu noted, the elderly will outnumber the young after 2047.
Naidu’s concern, an MP from the Telugu Desam Party claimed, is political: the state’s decreasing population will reduce its bargaining...
