Posted on 08/01/2009 6:12:21 PM PDT by GOPGuide
Thousands of couples in India who agreed to put off having babies for at least two years after their wedding will collect cash payments this month as health officials attempt to curb the country's rapidly growing population.
Neighbouring China shows the first signs of relaxing its strict policy of one child per couple in the face of an ageing population, India is searching for a way of restricting the size of families as the battle over scarce resources grows.
The country's population stands at 1.2 billion and is expected to reach 1.53 billion by 2050. But increasing pressure on resources means that there is barely enough water and food to go round.
A pilot project in the Satara district of Maharashtra has proved a success and other states, including Delhi and Assam, are now considering cash incentives.
Satara, funded by the National Rural Health Mission, is offering couples a reward of 5,000 rupees (£62) if they delay having a child for two years (70 rupees a day is a good wage in rural areas). If they wait another year, they receive a further 2,500 rupees.
The birthrate in the district rose from 16.5 births a thousand people in 2005 to 17 in 2007. The project initially attracted 977 couples, but that figure has risen to 2,366.
Satara has about 25,000 marriages a year and 80% result in the birth of a child within the first year. Only 155 couples on the programme left to have children.
The first cheques are to be issued on 15 August, with officials cautiously optimistic about a reversal in the birthrate, which is now down to 16.1 per thousand. Couples who take part are also eligible for family planning advice and free condoms.
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"People's economic situation is not improved by having more children.
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(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
I think 1.2 billion people is enough for one country.
Asia needs a vicious, conventional, regional war.
Both have nukes, but nuclear dust doesn’t stop at Asian borders.
Or Australia, Canada and Russia need to open up their immigration policies to enable people to migrate there and cultivate the land and harness the resources there.
But that comes at the expense of the countries’ demographic characters.
Prior to the establishment of nation-states, the regions’ demographic characters were nothing like they are now.
I'm here to help.
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