Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has drawn flak from political parties for his remark calling people to have more children.

Mr. Naidu on Monday said a ‘demographic crisis’ loomed large over Andhra Pradesh. Interacting with people at Bramhanagudem, Unagatla and Chagallu on the last leg of his two-day programme in West Godavari district, he expressed fears of the ageing of the country following a sharp decline in the birth rate.

The family planning programme with “one or none” slogan resulted in population growth coming to a standstill leading to a reversal of the demographic profile of the State of late, he said. Quoting the latest official data, Mr. Naidu said the ratio of births and deaths looked similar and if this situation continued, the State would end up with less number of youth, resembling the precarious condition of Japan, he cautioned.

It’s time people come out of the earlier mindsets vis-à-vis the size of families and have two to three children as the young generation held the key to realisation of his smart village/town mission. Claiming that he was the one who took the lead in the past in his capacity as Chief Minister in implementing birth control measures, Mr. Naidu said it was time to revisit such policies.
Naidu pleasing Sangh Parivar

At a press conference here, CPI national general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said Mr. Naidu’s remarks were surprising, to say the least, and amounted to pleasing the Sangh Parivar. “Anyway, Mr. Naidu will not be allowed to exist politically till the 2019 general elections. He is simply wasting his breath, but coming from the Chief Minister of a State, it raises eyebrows about his political motives,” CPI senior leader Narayana quipped, going on to wonder if it meant that India’s family planning programme no longer had any importance.
‘Outrageous’

Lok Satta founder president N. Jayaprakash Narayan said Mr. Naidu’s call to young couples to have more children is outrageous. Andhra Pradesh’s birth rate is 17.5 and population is growing at 1 per cent PA.

YSR Congress Party leader Ambati Rambabu termed such statements as insane and unbecoming of the responsible position he holds. “Asking young couples to have more number of children goes against the development process of the nation and is a retrograde step putting the clock of development backwards by more than a century,” he said.

The remarks coming from a person who is boasting of building a capital on the lines of Japan and other developed nations have stunned the nation. The Chief Minister telling that giving birth to more number of children will increase the youth power and turns the nation young is ridiculous, he said.