AP: Draft Population Management Policy Introduced in Assembly

Amaravati: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu introduced the draft Population Management Policy in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday. According to the policy, the state would focus on Population Care as against the family planning given importance so far. Stating that the fertility rate in Japan, South Korea and Italy was reducing gradually, the CM said a similar condition is prevailing in India and a few states too.

At present, the Total Fertility Rate in Andhra Pradesh is 1.5 while it was 3.0 in 1993. If the TFR gets reduced, the number of working population drops drastically, Naidu said. In such a situation, if the government does not interfere, the economic structure in the state would get affected. According to the 2023 statistics, 6.70 lakh birth were registered in the state. If the same continues till 2047, 23% of population would become old-aged.

The participation rate of women labour force is continuing at 31 per cent. The state's GSDP will become 15% only if the women labour force participation rate increases to 59 per cent, he asserted.

A five-stage cycle should be adopted for Population Management, in which Maternity, Energy, Wellbeing, Skill and Sanjeevani would act as five pillars. The government would extend support to women at every stage from pregnancy to old age. The government would provide assistance to women not having children and grappling with fertility issues.

A Matrutva Centre of Excellence is being planned which would provide IVF services at subsidy under the PPP model. The government is also planning to reduce the number of Caesarean Sections in the state. Measures are being taken to reduce the Teenage Pregnancy rate to 3% from the current 8.8%.