Women government employees in Sikkim of India who give birth to two or more children will receive extra salary hikes and paid-for childcare attendants at home.
Sikkim has announced as it grapples with the country's lowest fertility rate and the risk of its population shrinking.
Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang has proposed a special salary hike for women who give birth to a second child and two raises for those who give birth to a third child.
"The low fertility rate among the local indigenous population is a matter of serious concern in Sikkim...We must do everything in our hands to reverse the process," Tamang said at an event in Gangtok, reports NDTV.
The least populous state in India with just 7 lakh people, Sikkim has been struggling with a low total fertility rate (TFR) for years.
According to government records, Sikkim has the lowest TFR in the country, with a figure of 1.1 for 2022. This means that on average, women in Sikkim are not having more than one child. In comparison, the national fertility rate in 2022 was 2.159 births per woman.
To address this, the Sikkim government has also announced that it will provide childcare attendants at the homes of women government employees to take care of infants.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
