A year ago, a TDP MP in Andhra Pradesh offered Rs 50,000 to women giving birth to a third girl child, provided the first two children are also daughters. He promised a cow if the third child is a boy, spending from his salary as a parliamentarian. The announcement from Vizianagaram MP Kalisetti Appala Naidu was met with surprise and some derision back then.
But now, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu himself has made a very similar promise – Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 for the birth of a third and fourth child, respectively. This is the latest in a series of policy measures by the Andhra Pradesh government to manage the state’s slowing population growth.
