Blitz Bureau
AMARAVATI: Voicing concern over the fertility rate in the state declining, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on August 23 appealed people to have more children saying population should be seen as an asset and not a burden.
“At one time, I had called for observing family planning but I am now making an appeal to people to increase the population by producing more children,” he said. Concerned over the decreasing fertility rate in the state to 1.5-1.7 per cent, the CM called for increasing the same to 2.1 per cent at par with the national fertility rate.
“Population in north India is growing but it’s declining in south India. You should keep this in mind,” he said while addressing a grama sabha at Vanapalli village in Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district.
“If we don’t think with foresight, the population will decrease. The ageing population will increase. If children are not born, who will we serve,” he asked.
Naidu warned that the state may face a situation like some countries where there are more older people as childbirth has stopped. “These countries have more ageing population. If they die, villages will become ghost villages,” he said.
The CM said that because of the ageing population, European countries, China and Japan are not in a position to compete in today’s competitive world. He said we had scrapped the twochild norm for contesting the Panchayat polls. “I can’t say what will happen tomorrow or the day after. If one has no child or has just one child, he may be declared ineligible to contest,” the CM added. People should be seen as an asset, adding that there was a time when people were seen as a burden, he said.
