YS Sharmila slams Chandrababu Naidu’s population policy

Metro India News | AMARAVATI

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Y. S. Sharmila on Saturday strongly criticized Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu over his recent remarks in the State Legislative Assembly advocating a shift toward encouraging larger families as part of a proposed population management policy.

Reacting sharply to the Chief Minister’s statement that the state may need to move away from strict population control and encourage families to have more children, Sharmila described the proposal as unrealistic and insensitive to the current economic realities faced by the youth.

Sharmila argued that the government should first focus on creating adequate employment opportunities before promoting policies encouraging larger families. “Thousands of young people in the state are already struggling without proper jobs. Many educated youth are forced to drive autos or work as taxi drivers to survive,” she said, questioning how the government could ask families to consider having a third child under such circumstances.

She also took aim at the incentive element mentioned in the policy discussion, referring to the proposed benefits under schemes such as ‘Thalli Ki Vandanam.’ “Is the government asking families to have a third child for the sake of a Rs25,000 benefit?” she asked, calling the proposal absurd.

The Congress leader further accused successive governments in the state of pushing Andhra Pradesh into a severe debt burden. She alleged that both the current administration and the previous government led by Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy were responsible for the state’s mounting liabilities. According to Sharmila, the state’s debt has ballooned to around Rs12 lakh crore, leaving limited fiscal space for welfare programmes and development.

Accusing the government of mismanaging the state’s finances and failing to deliver on election promises, Sharmila said the administration should focus on addressing unemployment, rising costs, and welfare arrears instead of advocating policies encouraging larger families. “If people are already struggling to raise the children they have, how can the government ask them to have more?” she asked, alleging that corruption and mismanagement were worsening the state’s financial condition.