• Source:JND
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Tamil Nadu:  A day after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged couples to have more than two children, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin expressed similar sentiments on Monday. Addressing a gathering at a group marriage ceremony organised by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, Stalin said that owing to the Lok Sabha delimitation exercise, Tamil couples should consider having more children.

Referring to the census and delimitation process which will soon redraw the electoral map of India, Stalin said newly wedded couples may give up the idea of having few children now.

"In the past, the elders used to bless the newly married couples to acquire 16 kinds of wealth (pathinarum petru peru vazhvu vazhga, meaning acquire 16 different kinds of wealth and lead a prosperous life) including fame, education, lineage, wealth, etc., and not 16 children. Gradually, people have come to believe in raising a small family for prosperity," the Chief Minister said after solemnising the marriages of 31 couples at the function.

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“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,” the CM added.

He further asked the Tamil couples to at least give Tamil names to their children.

"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,” he added.

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This came a day after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Naidu expressed concerns over the decline in the young population of the southern Indian states.

“We are considering incentivising families with more kids, encouraging couples to have more children. We have repealed the earlier law barring people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. We will bring in a new law to make only those with more than two children eligible to contest," Naidu said while relaunching the infrastructure works in Amravati, which were suspended by the previous government.