The recent proposal by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to offer Rs 25,000 for couples who give birth to a third child is being projected as a visionary step to improve the Total Fertility Rate(TFR).
According to him, the current TFR of around 1.5 must rise to 2.1 to maintain demographic balance. While this may sound like a policy designed for the future, a closer look exposes how shallow and impractical the proposal actually is.
First, one must ask a basic question. How reasonable is it to assume that a one time payment of Rs 25,000 will help parents raise a child for the next 25 years?
The cost of healthcare, education, nutrition, housing and overall upbringing has skyrocketed. Even middle class families today think twice before planning a second child.
In an era where artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the job market and no one knows which professions will survive in the next decade, raising even a single child has become financially and emotionally challenging.
Under such circumstances, encouraging families to have three or four children in exchange for Rs 25,000 looks not only unrealistic but also irresponsible.
There is also a darker social risk that policymakers seem to ignore. Such schemes often attract the most vulnerable and economically desperate sections of society.
Poor families struggling for survival may see the cash incentive as quick money rather than a responsibility to nurture a child for decades. This raises disturbing possibilities.
Some may give birth to children simply to receive the incentive. In extreme cases, neglect or even harm to the child cannot be ruled out.
Policies that treat childbirth like a transaction risk encouraging money driven decisions rather than responsible parenting.
Responsible parents, whether poor or rich, do not produce children because of cash incentives. They think about education, healthcare, safety and the long term future of the child. Parenting is about commitment, not about collecting small government payments.
I believe that the real motive behind this policy is political arithmetic rather than social welfare. Increasing population could help Andhra Pradesh secure more parliamentary seats in future delimitation exercises.
If that is the hidden calculation, then the policy becomes deeply troubling. It turns citizens and children into instruments of political strategy.
At the same time, ideological voices such as Mohan Bhagawat urging Hindus to produce more children for demographic reasons reflect another kind of pressure.
Whether driven by political ambition or ideological agenda, pushing people to have more children without addressing economic realities is equally cruel.
If demographic balance is truly the concern, the discussion should focus on uniform and fair population norms.
A Uniform Civil Code that ensures equal rules for marriage and family size across communities would be a more honest conversation. Encouraging population growth through token payments like Rs 25,000 is not visionary policy. It is reckless populism disguised as welfare.
I have regards for Chandrababu Naidu for many reasons, but in this case he is appearing like a smiling villain behind population politics.
Usha Chowdhary