AMARAVATI, Jan 25: In a country where the government has for long advocated "Hum Do Hamare Do" -- the slogan aimed at reinforcing the message of family planning -- Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu appealed to the people of his state to have more children, or at least take the responsibility to give birth to at least one child.
Mr Naidu, who is the chief of the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh, said it is necessary to create awareness to encourage people to have more children.
"These days youngsters don't want to marry. Even if they agree to marry, they don't want to have children. That is a dangerous trend,'' he said and added that India's pride is its family system and we need to safeguard it.
"We have to say it again and again and make people aware," the TDP chief said in Amaravati today.
There was a time when Andhra Pradesh had surprised the country by successfully implementing the family planning programme when in just 10 years, the fertility rate, or TFR as it is called, was halved.
This is not the first time Mr Naidu is advising people of his state to have more children. He had suggested this in 2015 as well.
Addressing a self-help group of women, Mr Naidu said that "China, Japan and many countries in Europe are facing the problem of no population growth".
"Right now, India is in a comfortable position, but it can become a problem in the future as birth rate is lower than the death rate nowadays," the Andhra leader claimed.
Mr Naidu pointed out that earlier, those with more than two children were barred from contesting the panchayat elections in the state but "now we want to encourage people to have more children".
"So we have taken a policy decision that even if you have four children, it is okay", he added.
Courtesy: www.ndtv.com
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Gorakhpur (UP) (PTI): A newly married man fled with the Rs 15 lakh given to him as dowry by the bride's family, and it came to light later that he was an alleged serial scammer, police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Pritam Kumar Nishad from Etawah, allegedly posed as an IAS officer to deceive the woman into marrying him. He is currently absconding with his sister, and a case has been filed against him for cheating, dowry harassment, and forgery, officials said.
According to the police, the woman's family claimed that they spent nearly Rs 30 lakh for the wedding that was solemnised on March 11.
The match was arranged through a matrimonial group, where the accused introduced himself as an IAS officer, sharing purported interview clips, office visuals, and photographs with politicians to gain the family's trust.
Despite initially claiming he would marry without dowry, the accused allegedly demanded Rs 15 lakh shortly before the engagement. The bride's family paid Rs 10 lakh in cash during the engagement and the remaining Rs 5 lakh on the wedding day, the police said.
The fraud came to light on Saturday after the woman reached Etawah, and a wedding attendee informed the family that the accused was not a civil servant. When her relatives visited the address provided by him, they found her in a small rented room, while the accused and his sister had fled, the police added.
The woman has also alleged that the accused planned to take her to Goa and sell her, and accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
The police suspect that the accused may have been involved in multiple such marriages in the past. Based on a complaint lodged at the cantonment police station, an FIR was registered on Saturday evening.
Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Kaustubh said efforts are underway to arrest the accused.
