‘Hum do, Humare teen’: Jain sect exhorts couples to have more children

Ahmedabad, May 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) To curb the declining polpulation of Kutch Visa Oswal Jain community in Baroi village of Gujarat, 'Hum Do, Humare Teen' scheme was announced exhorting young couples of the sect to have more children.

As part of the scheme, Rs 10 lakh each will be provided to second and third children of a couple (one lakh on birth and remaining nine lakh as installments of Rs 50,000 on every birthday till he/she becomes 18-year-old.)

The pamphlet of the campaign, inititated by 'Mumbaigara KVO jain Mahajans' (a group of people of the community who have migrated to Mumbai), has also gone viral on social media.

Every second and third child born after January 1, 2023 will get the benefit of the said scheme.

Anil Kenya, secretary of Baroi KVO Jain Samaj, said: "This scheme is only for the people of the Jain community in our Baroi village. Jain society is still in the minority. The village houses 400 families which has now barely around 1,100 to 1,200 members.

"In some families there are only elders, so who will take care of them in future? In the next 50 years, the whole society may be wiped out. Many young couples today prefer to be single or childless. Many villagers in the surrounding villages also think about this step. Even in Jain society not all families are prosperous. So some families are also willing to take on the responsibility of other families, even if they have more than one child. This is a kind of incentive," Kenya added.

Well-known sociologist Gaurang Jani said as per the last three census, the overall family size of Kutch has decreased over the last three decades. This is not a new concern, one of the main reasons is that there has been a lot of migration.

"Being educated and rich, Jains migrated to Mumbai, abroad or to other big cities. The quake also left many villages empty. You can't stop someone from migrating. So the only option is for the new generation to have more children," Jani added.

"Today there are only 53,000 Parsis in all over India, so few that their separate religion column cannot be given in the census forms. We have 2.2 children per woman there, so the population of every society is declining," the sociologist pointed out.

The announcement may be appropriate in the eyes of the Jain community, but it remains to be seen whether the couple will accept it individually, he added.

Source: IANS