In a controversial announcement aimed at reversing declining birth rates, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has declared cash rewards of ₹30,000 for families having a third child and ₹40,000 for a fourth child. Citing concerns over Andhra Pradesh’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) hovering at around 1.5 , well below the replacement level of 2.1, Naidu has warned that India must avoid the demographic pitfalls faced by countries like South Korea and Japan. He pointed to rising incomes leading to single-child families or second children only if the first is a girl, emphasising the need for population stability.

While the policy is framed as pro-family and forward-looking, it has drawn sharp criticism from women leaders, activists, lawyers, and experts across the country. They argue that incentivising higher-order births without addressing systemic issues of healthcare access, nutrition, women’s education, employment, and bodily autonomy risks severe adverse consequences for mothers, children, and society.

Maternal Health Data Tells a Cautionary Tale

India has achieved significant reductions in maternal mortality, with the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) standing at approximately 88 per 100,000 live births in the latest SRS 2021-23 data (down from higher levels in previous decades). Other estimates place it around 97 in earlier periods. However, pregnancy and childbirth continue to carry substantial risks, particularly for higher-parity births (third, fourth, or more children).

Anemia remains a massive public health crisis. NFHS-5 data shows over 52% of pregnant women and 57% of women of reproductive age in India are anemic. Prevalence is even higher among poorer, rural, less-educated, and tribal women. High parity exacerbates nutritional depletion, increasing risks of hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, infections, low birth weight, and perinatal complications. Many women, especially daily wage laborers in states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, lack reliable access to quality antenatal care, family planning, clean water, and nutrition, often continuing strenuous physical work throughout pregnancy.

Experts note that repeated pregnancies without adequate spacing and support intensify maternal and child health burdens, potentially reversing gains in maternal mortality reduction and straining public resources.

A Powerful Chorus of Concern

The Mooknayak spoke to prominent female voices from diverse backgrounds, and they rose in strong, unified opposition: “No, this is not done!”

Nirdesh Singh, a prominent Ambedkarite activist from Uttar Pradesh and a strong advocate of Savitribai Phule teachings, strongly condemned the policy:

“They should take responsibility for children’s education, but instead, they are encouraging people to have more children. The government should make girls’ education and women’s independence its prime focus instead of pushing such regressive cash offers. These incentives will only reduce women to baby-making machines and rob them of their autonomy and health.”

Speaking with The Mooknayak, women rights activist Suman Devthiya from Jaipur stated, " Financial incentives alone do not determine the success of any policy. If the government really wants to balance the population and strengthen the future of the society, it has to give equal priority to maternal health services, quality education for children, better nutrition, employment opportunities and safety and dignity of women."

She further added, "Every family's decision is based on its economic status, social circumstances and personal responsibilities. Therefore, the role of the government should not be limited to increasing the population, but should create an environment where parents can give their children a safe, educated, healthy and better future. Even today there are many communities in this country who are forced to take their basic needs like bread, cloth and housing. Government should focus on all-round development of those families and communities

Until families receive strong guarantees of health, education and employment, it will not be possible to bring about lasting and positive change through stimulus money alone."

Anti-caste activist from Kerala and a college professor, Dr. Rehna Raveendran, provided a comprehensive socio-economic analysis: “Providing cash incentives to increase the population without a corresponding governmental commitment to ensuring quality healthcare, education, housing, and employment opportunities is likely to generate adverse socio-economic consequences. Population growth, in the absence of adequate human development measures, may intensify existing pressures on resources, public infrastructure, and social welfare systems. Rather than prioritising numerical expansion, the emphasis should be placed on enhancing the quality of life and human capabilities. From the perspective of human security and sustainable human development, such a policy appears deeply problematic and potentially counterproductive.”

Shobha Prabhakar, a social activist and Rajasthan High Court Lawyer at Jodhpur highlighted multiple interconnected risks. She asserted " Such policies carry the danger of skewing sex ratios, imposing burdens on mothers’ health and increasing malnutrition risks, compromising children’s education, and later playing havoc with employment prospects. Small families have become the established social norm. Instead of incentivising higher birth rates, better alternatives would be skill development, youth employment, and increasing women’s participation. The country needs a quality small population, not a growing one."

Sangeeta Sharma, Former Madhya Pradesh Women’s Commission member, raised critical concerns about implementation and priorities: The CM's announcement to provide financial incentives for a third and fourth child raises several social and health-related concerns. Policies related to population and family welfare should consider women’s health, child nutrition, and the economic condition of families. According to her, encouraging larger families only through monetary benefits may not be the right approach.

She further stated that the government should focus more on improving women’s education, employment opportunities, and healthcare facilities. Before implementing such policies, it is important to consult social organizations, women’s groups, and experts so that the broader impact on society can be properly understood.

Shalin Maria Lawrence, Dalit rights activist and author from Tamil Nadu, delivered one of the most passionate and detailed critiques, drawing from ground realities and historical perspectives: “Most men across India think that giving birth is a very easy process. Only women can truly understand how much courage and strength it takes to give birth to a child. Conceiving itself is a hectic process. Women have to bear the burden of pregnancy while also managing the entire household.

There are women across India who are extremely poor and don’t even have access to basic water, and these are the very women whom Chandrababu Naidu is targeting. He is offering ₹30,000 and ₹40,000 to people who cannot even afford to raise a child in the first place.

I know families in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh who don’t have proper access to family planning. The poorer you are, the less access you have to family planning services. That is why the government’s first priority should be to control the population by providing universal access to family planning and encouraging men to take responsibility, instead of putting the entire onus on women."

She further adds, " This is what Dr. Ambedkar had been advocating since the early 20th century. He spoke about family planning and how unchecked population growth affects the health of the country and its women. There are women who walk 10-15 kilometres just to fetch water. Many continue to work as labourers in brick kilns, blue-collar jobs, daily wage work, and firework industries even while pregnant. This is an extra burden on them.

Women still don’t have real bodily autonomy. Thanks to Ambedkar, Nehru, and Indira Gandhi, we have legal rights like MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) and family planning, but society continues to be against women’s choices. Nearly 80 percent of women in India are anaemic, along with severe Vitamin D and protein deficiencies. People conveniently ignore the poor health and nutritional deficiencies women suffer due to religion, caste, and poverty."

" At the end of the day, we must focus on the well-being and health of women reducing maternal mortality and child mortality rates. A large number of women still do not have access to primary healthcare. ASHA workers have to walk long distances across hills, rivers and remote areas to help pregnant women.

You want more MPs and more MLAs? It is like saying, ‘I want more MPs, so you keep having children and die an unfortunate death.’ Every delivery is a near-death experience. I strongly feel that men, even husbands, should not have any say in this. How can a Chief Minister even ask women to have more children? This puts women’s health at risk, pushes families into financial distress, and puts the entire state at risk.

Women won’t be able to go to work. They will be denied education. Everybody should condemn this statement, not just the people of Andhra, but every man and woman across the country should strongly discourage such ideas.

I appeal to all women’s organisations to come forward and condemn this policy. It is the woman who has the right to decide when and how many children she wants to give birth to" Shalin concludes.

Journalist Revathi, in her X post, sharply criticised the policy saying: “Imagine giving birth to more children for such paltry sums from the government that won’t even cover the cost of diapers or vaccines. Women will now face increased pressure from families to have more children just because there is ‘free money’ from the government. Andhra Pradesh has a literacy rate of just 67 percent, 59 percent of women suffer from anaemia, 63 percent of children are malnourished, and only 39 percent of women have studied beyond 10 years of schooling. Healthcare is in a mess and government education is unreliable, yet the focus is on making these women have more children. Instead of pulling the plug on the NDA to stop delimitation, visionary leaders like Chandrababu Naidu are shifting the burden onto the public, especially women. And why does CBN blindly support this? Because he wants his only child to become the Chief Minister soon — after all, his son too has only one son.”

Why Just Women, Men Too Must Condemn This Announcement

These reactions highlight that this is not merely a women’s issue but a societal one. Men, as husbands, fathers, policymakers, and community members, bear equal responsibility for family planning decisions and supporting women’s health. YSR Congress National Spokesperson Karthik Yellapragada called the decision an attempt to distract from the "failures" of the TDP-led government in Andhra Pradesh. Incentivising larger families places disproportionate physical, economic, and emotional burdens on women while ignoring their autonomy. Progressive nations focus on quality human development, maternal safety, family planning access (including for men), skill-building, and women’s workforce participation, not cash inducements that could lead to higher maternal risks and resource strain.

The women leaders The Mooknayak spoke with are unanimous: Cash incentives for third and fourth children risk exacerbating anemia, malnutrition, gender imbalances, educational compromises, and long-term economic pressures without parallel investments in healthcare infrastructure, nutrition programs, women’s empowerment, and universal family planning access.

India needs healthier mothers, better-nourished children, educated and empowered citizens, not policies that potentially treat women’s bodies as instruments for demographic goals. Men and women across the country must join these voices in condemning the approach and demanding people-centric, gender-sensitive alternatives focused on quality over quantity.

The message is loud and clear: “This is not done!”