Naidu calls for joint families, hints at giving incentives

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday said joint families are the biggest wealth in India and underlined the significance of women empowerment.

Speaking at International Day for Women celebrations here, he said the government is giving all benefits be it ration or house-sites in the name of women and encouraging them to become entrepreneurs so that they will be financially independent.

Justifying joint families, he said the present trend is forcing parents to live alone at old age. This situation must change, he stated.

He said after announcing financial incentive for the third child to increase the population, Naidu said the coalition government is planning to give special incentives to encourage large families. "In addition, we will consider the issue of pension, triple bedroom houses and giving ration up to 60 kg," he said.

He said not only for women, men will also be given paternity leave for two months if the children opt for two kids. He observed that 58 per cent are opting for only one child. "Some don't really want to.” That is why we want to implement population management ," he said and called upon women to adopt new technologies to climb the ladder of success in the tech world after carving a niche for themselves in the IT field.