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The Andhra Pradesh government is considering a "second child onwards" incentive similar to models implemented in France and Hungary to avoid demographic collapse in the future, a top official said on Thursday, December 18. The incentive also includes establishment of fertility colleges as Centres of Excellence for Reproductive medicine.
The plan was outlined by Andhra Health, Medical and Family Welfare Secretary Sourabh Gaur at the 5th Collectors' Conference. Sourabh presented the plans for the establishment of Fertility Colleges. “This first-of-its-kind public sector initiative will train professionals and provide state-supported IVF treatment for couples facing infertility challenges,” he said.
He also presented Andhra Pradesh's approach to population management and human resource development as the third ‘sutra’ in ‘Padi Sutralu’ (10 points) under Swarna Andhra Vision 2047 and underlined the need to shift from population control to population sustainability.
The presentation was made in view of Andhra Pradesh’s ageing population, the fastest in India, with a median age of 32.5 years compared to the national average of 28.4 years.
The state's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined to 1.5, well below the replacement level of 2.1, placing Andhra Pradesh on a trajectory similar to developed economies facing a demographic crisis.
"We are now facing the same problem that developed nations are experiencing - a growing non-working-aged population. Our focus must shift to enabling and incentivising families to have children," Saurabh Gaur stated, suggesting a "second child onwards" incentive principle similar to models implemented in France and Hungary to arrest the TFR decline and avoid future demographic collapse.
The Secretary told the Collectors that closing the female workforce participation gap from the current 31 per cent to match the male participation rate of 59 per cent can boost the state's GSDP by 15 per cent. To achieve this, the government will implement women-friendly transport systems and mandatory crèches in major workplaces to reduce the "motherhood penalty" on careers.
On healthcare outcomes, the Secretary set ambitious targets to reduce Maternal Mortality Ratio from the current 30 to global best standards (below 5, matching Norway, Poland, and Belarus) and Infant Mortality Rate from approximately 17 to below 2 (matching Singapore and Iceland).
At the conference, Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu emphasised the urgent need to address the state's declining fertility rate and improve overall health outcomes. It is worth noting that in January 2025, CM Chandrababu stated that he would bring in a law that requires candidates to have more than two children to contest in local body polls.
“At one point in time, if people had more than two children, they couldn’t contest in local body elections. Now I’m saying, if you have too few kids, you cannot contest. That’s the first encouragement (towards having more children). Only if you have more than two children, you’ll be a sarpanch or municipal councillor or corporation chairman or mayor. We will bring in such requirements,” Naidu said on January 16.
“Some people are following ‘dual income, no kids’. If their parents had thought like that, they wouldn’t exist,” he added.