CHENNAI: The Lok Sabha delimitation exercise may make people to think about raising "16 children," Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Monday, alluding to a Tamil saying on 16 kinds of wealth but insisted that one should give Tamil names to their kids.
He was alluding to a Tamil saying "pathinarum petru peru vazhvu vazhga," meaning acquire 16 different kinds of wealth and lead a prosperous life, while referring to the census and delimitation process which will redraw the electoral map of India.
Stalin said newly wedded couples may give up the idea of having few children now.
"The Parliament delimitation process may encourage the couples to have many children and give up thoughts of a small family. But whatever be the outcome, provide Tamil names to your children," the CM said after solemnising the marriages of 31 couples at a function held under the aegis of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department here.
In the past, the elders used to bless the newly married couples to acquire 16 kinds of wealth (pathinarum petru peru vazhvu vazhga) including fame, education, lineage, wealth, etc., and not 16 children.
Gradually, people have come to believe in raising a small family for prosperity, he said.
"That blessing doesn't mean beget 16 children now a situation has arisen where people think they should now literally raise 16 children and not a small and prosperous family," Stalin said.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu also touched upon the population issue and called on women in the state to bear at least two children to stabilise its population.
Andhra's birthrate is under the replacement level of 2.1 live births per woman.
"There is a need to manage our population. Till 2047, we will have the demographic dividend, there will be more youngsters. After 2047, there will be more old people, if less than two children are given birth (per woman), then population will reduce. If you (each woman) give birth to more than two children, then the population will increase," the CM said during a recent public meeting in Amaravati.
Recalling his past call for population control, stressing on the finite availability of land, water and air resources, he claimed people heeded his word and reduced AP's birthrate within 10 years, which now risks the "danger of its population falling down completely".
The state Congress unit welcomed Naidu's call for raising the population.
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) vice president Kolanukonda Sivaji observed the CM gave such a call keeping the best interests of South India in mind.
"Because, under delimitation, Parliament seats in our region (south India) will reduce and they will get added to the northern states. That's why, to overcome this there is no time. So, when the population here increases, our seats will be with us," said Sivaji.
Saving South India's Parliament seats as the correct interpretation of Naidu's call, Sivaji noted the NDA ally did not directly drive home this message but subtly chose the plummeting birthrate ploy to avoid friction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Sangh Parivar.