Stalin urges people to have more kids

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has encouraged state's residents to consider having more children, following a similar suggestion by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu a few days ago. Speaking at a function in Chennai, organized by the HR and CE department, where free marriages were arranged, Stalin referenced an old Tamil saying, "padhinarum petru peru vazhvu vazhga," which means that people should have 16 different types of wealth including fame, education, lineage, wealth, etc, and not 16 children.

Gradually, people have come to believe in raising a small family for prosperity.

“But today, as there is a scenario of decreasing Lok Sabha constituencies, it raises the question: why should we restrict ourselves to having fewer children? Why shouldn’t we aim for 16 children?” Stalin added.

The remark by Stalin has once again renewed the debate over delimitation and its impact on southern states with their lower population indices.

The other day, Naidu warned against the effects on Andhra of an ageing population. Addressing a public gathering, he said his government was contemplating legislation to incentivise families to have more children, reversing earlier policies aimed at population control.

Naidu cautioned that a rise in the proportion of the elderly could strain South’s economy, a phenomenon being experienced in many of the developed countries. He cited the examples of Japan, China, and parts of Europe, where ageing populations outnumber younger generations.

Where Naidu will strike a chord with his Southern counterparts is the threat implicit in his remarks regarding a fall in population numbers affecting states’ political influence. If population is the criterion for deciding constituency boundaries, the delimitation process, scheduled to occur after the new Census, would reduce the number of Lok Sabha seats in states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The DMK has also raised the unfairness of population numbers determining devolution of Central funds in Parliament, saying it “penalises” southern states for meeting population goals.