Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s decision to give a one-time incentive of Rs 30,000 for couples having a third child and Rs 40,000 for the fourth to reverse a falling birth rate does not take a comprehensive view of the demographic conundrum. The decline in the total fertility rate (TFR), which is the number of children a woman has across her lifetime, has created the depressing prospect that India will grow older before it gets richer.

Rising inequality between the richest and poorest sections of the population has aggravated the distress of millions because of higher expenditure on public goods, such as education and healthcare, besides spending on food, housing, and mobility.

Against this backdrop, states and union........

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