SALARY INCREMENTS for government employees who opt for more than one child; women government employees to get free childcare attendants to take care of their newborns for a year; 365 days maternity leave and 30 days paternity leave; financial help for IVF procedure. Alarmed by the state’s falling fertility rate, the Sikkim government has introduced a slew of incentives.
In the latest step, all state government employees who decide to have two children will receive one increment, while those who have more than two children will receive two increments. This policy will come into effect from January 21.
Addressing a function on Friday, Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) said his government proposed to recruit women aged 40 years and above to depute them at the homes of women government employees to take care of their newborns for a year. These attendants will be given a monthly remuneration of Rs 10,000, he said.
According to the latest National Family Health Survey-5 data, Sikkim has the lowest total fertility rate (TFR) in the country. The figure stood at 1.1 for 2022, which means that women in Sikkim did not bear more than one child on an average. The TFR was 0.7 in urban areas and 1.3 in rural areas – both below the national average of 2.0, and the replacement level of 2.1.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Sikkim Chief Secretary V B Pathak said the state’s Sample Registration System (SRS) survey indicated that the TFR may be lower at 0.89.
“While the SRS may not be a validated document by the Government of India, it is still a telling finding for us. A TFR of 0.89 is extremely concerning. The government has been strategising on methods by which the population can be stabilised. We are trying to ascertain the reason behind the steadily dropping TFR and will commission a study to investigate whether it is genetic or social,” he said.
“The increment scheme, and all other measures being announced by the Sikkim government, is of course for the indigenous population, among whom the fertility rate is falling, and there is a fear of a demographic change. Right now, the policy is focusing on government employees, but the state government is considering whether such an increment scheme can be announced for the public as well,” said Pathak.
Among the states, Sikkim has the lowest population at just over 6.8 lakh. Its TFR has halved in the last 15 years. Experts said this means that only one out of every 3-4 women in Sikkim are bearing children. According to NFHS-5 data, among women aged 25-49 years, the median age of first marriage was 21.5 years. In the 20-49 years age group, 25% of women and 40% of men had not married.
According to NFHS-5 findings for the state, two-thirds of currently married women and three-fifth of their male counterparts, aged 15-49 years, want no more children, are already sterilised, or have a spouse who is sterilised. And 92% of women and 84% of men consider the ideal family size to be two or fewer children.
In the NFHS-2 survey (1998-99), Sikkim’s TFR was 2.8, which dropped to 2 in NFHS-3 (2005-06), 1.2 in NFHS-4 (2015-16), and 1.1 in the latest NFHS-5 (2019-21).
“Sikkim has a TFR of 1.1, which is far below the national average and a cause for concern. The total population growth rate of Sikkim fell to 12.89% in 2001-2011, from 32.98% in 1991-2001. Similar to China, Sikkim may experience a demographic crisis in future,’’ said Alok Vajpeyi of the Population Foundation of India.
Last year, the Sikkim government introduced a scheme by which government employees could get financial aid for IVF procedure. “We called this the Vatsalya scheme. Like the increment scheme, this covers women employees as well as men employees whose wives are trying to conceive. The government will cover the cost of two IVF cycles by a couple amounting to Rs 1.5 lakh per cycle,” said Pathak. So far, 38 women employees have availed this scheme.
In addition, the state government earlier extended maternity leave from six months to a year for employees including temporary, ad hoc, muster rolls, and work-charged staff; and paternity leave from 15 days to a month.
“Today, Sikkim, along with Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Puducherry, Punjab, Ladakh, West Bengal and Lakshadweep, face the challenge of an aging population, given their fertility rate is
well below the replacement level… The reduced TFR will result in an age-structural transformation, wherein the states will have a demographic dividend in the initial years, but an aging population in the long run… With shrinking active labour force, the state economy is expected to witness loss in
economic output and income levels. Going forward, Sikkim may not only have an aging population, but also a shrinking labour force and an increase in sex-selective practices. This development can send the state to a long period of population decline,’’ said Vajpeyi.
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