Amid Low Fertility Rates, South India Should Bring In More People, Not Babies
Although India now claims the spot of the world’s most populous country with over 1.45 billion people, political leaders from the south, N. Chandrababu Naidu and MK Stalin, expressed concerns regarding the dwindling population in their respective states and its consequences on voter rolls and states’ influence over the larger politics in the country.
In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the problem of “population explosion” and overpopulation and formed a special committee to study the “challenges of fast population growth.” But now, some political leaders are concerned about the declining population in their states.
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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chanadrababu Naidu, an ally of PM Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), decided to restrict local politics, allowing candidates with more than two children to contest elections in the state, in a bid to encourage people to have more kids. In a similar vein, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin jokingly asked why Tamilian families couldn’t have more than “16 children.”
States such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu struggle with low total fertility rates, much like many Eastern European and Nordic nations. Countries like Japan also complain of a similar challenge.
Bloomberg’s Mihir Shah observed two common reasons behind the declining birth rates. More educated, empowered women across the world choose to marry late and have fewer children. Richer, more economically developed, and socially progressive regions—like India’s southern states—tend to have shrinking fertility rates.
Following pro-natalist policies will not help these states, at least not in the long term. Shah suggests policymakers expand employment and skilling opportunities, particularly for women, for states to grow richer and fasten economic growth.
Why Are The Southern States Worried?
The current seat share percentage in the parliament is based on the 1971 census, when the southern population was almost on par with the northern side. However, that would not be true if a much-delayed census is held now. With shrinking voter rolls, the voices and influence of southern states will weaken in the greater political decisions of the country. Naturally, the leaders from the region are worried of a potential situation where state governments will be dissatisfied, a grim future for Indian politics and democracy.
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Shah suggests a key and untapped strategy that would solve the problem: migration. The southern states must utilise the human resources coming in from the relatively underdeveloped northern states.
While the population up north will continue to grow, the southern states could welcome workers to balance the politics and strengthen their economies. “The biggest lesson they can learn from countries that have worried about this dilemma for far longer than they have is not to confuse ethnic anxiety with good economic and social policy. Migration supports growth: That’s true in India as in the US or Europe,” Shah writes in Bloomberg.
