Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu made several significant announcements during the International Women’s Day celebrations in Amaravati. He introduced a new policy approach called Population Management to address changing family structures and concerns about declining birth rates.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Minister said joint families are one of India’s greatest social strengths. He urged people not to break families only to receive separate welfare benefits such as ration or pensions. According to him, many elderly parents are now living alone because of the growing trend of nuclear families. He said the government wants to reverse this trend and encourage families to stay together.
To support this goal, the government is considering several incentives for large joint families. These include additional pensions, triple bedroom houses designed for bigger households, and ration support of up to 60 kilograms per month.
Naidu also expressed concern over demographic trends. He said nearly 58 percent of couples in the state are choosing to have only one child. This could disturb population balance in the future. Instead of focusing only on population control, the government will now focus on population management.
In a key announcement, the Chief Minister said men with two children will also receive two months of paternity leave. He also revealed that the government plans to create six lakh women entrepreneurs in the state by next year and promote women led MSMEs under the “Swayam” brand for global markets.
