Speaking exclusively to ET on the eve of Parliament’s three-day sitting to pass three key bills on delimitation and women’s reservation, Naidu said the Centre’s formula had his “100% support” and stressed that the number of seats should be delinked from census.
With the Centre’s assurance of an overall increase in Lok Sabha and assembly seats, Naidu said, “You have to delink population and seats… Now the number of seats is doubled. I am 100% satisfied. This is the only way. They have finalised the right formula at this stage in a scientific manner.”
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Naidu has been for a while nudging the Centre to delink delimitation from the census. He had earlier argued that linking seats to population would penalise southern states for effectively implementing family planning measures – an argument that has found resonance among regional parties such as DMK and BRS.
Countering the Opposition’s claim that women’s reservation is the Union government’s ploy to introduce delimitation, which should be linked to the latest census exercise and not 2011 census figures, Naidu said, “You can never base delimitation on the latest census, which is ongoing. Last time, we adjusted seats based on the 1991 census and those seats were frozen. In south India, we followed population planning and the population has reduced. You cannot now link seats with population.”
Dismissing concerns that the government is attempting to expand its political influence through delimitation, the Andhra CM said, “If a political party does not work, even with a higher number of seats, it will still lose elections.” The new bills have not altered Naidu’s plans to introduce financial incentives to encourage larger families. “I will be introducing my population management policy this month. I will actively promote larger families. Bigger families provide health security, financial stability, and act as a stress buffer. Indian civilisation and our family values are unique – they are our biggest advantage, ensuring a secure, happy and stable society. Many countries are facing ageing populations, leading to loneliness and depression. Earlier, I promoted family planning because it was necessary then. Now, with the ageing challenge, we will incentivise having more children.”
Naidu, an early advocate of women’s reservation in local bodies as well as legislature and Parliament, said women are ready to lead and the notion that they serve merely as proxies had “gone on for too long”.
“If you introduce reservation, quality will improve over time. At one stage, there was criticism over women reservation, saying they were not educated, were proxies and not ready. That debate has gone on for too long. Leadership evolves. Due to reservations, capable people are coming forward, and the quality has improved. So women will have more qualitative contributions over a period of time,” he said.
Naidu-led Andhra government is also set to launch a women-centric brand, Swayam, modelled on Amul. “All products – dairy, food, and others – will be developed under this brand. We will also provide recipes, enabling women to create products. The government will handle certification and marketing.”
While supporting the Centre’s bills, Naidu also raised the demand for a socio-economic caste census. “We need a socio-economic caste census for economic empowerment. It is a separate issue. I will urge the Centre to consider it at an appropriate time,” he said.
