Chennai:
The Congress, an ally in the Vijay’s TVK-led Tamil Nadu government, disagrees.
Specifically, its party MP Karti Chidambaram who disagrees with the state government’s move that could tacitly encourage large families after the state government announced it is extending the maternity leave from 12 weeks to 365 for women giving birth to their third child.
Presently, women working for the government get one year maternity leave for the first and second child and they get only 12 weeks of maternity leave for the third child.
“I don’t agree with the government’s policy of encouraging large families. I welcome maternity leave. I think maternity leave should be given to all working mothers. They must be entitled to maternity leave. I also encourage the paternity leave policy. I don’t think child rearing is the sole responsibility and burden of women alone,” Karti Chidambaram told NDTV.
“What India needs, what Tamil Nadu needs is a highly educated, highly trained population not a population for the sake of numbers. We are an overpopulated country and we will be better served with a much more educated, healthier and smaller population,” Chidambaram underscored.
Tamil Nadu government employees to get 1 year maternity feave for third child
NDTV’s @divyawadhwa speaks to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram (@KartiPC) on Vijay government’s new decision
DMK spokesperson Saravanan (@saravofc) weighs in@jsamdaniel reports pic.twitter.com/vc2gctV9vO
— NDTV (@ndtv) August 19, 2026
Asked what if other states take their cue from Tamil Nadu, the Congress MP said the question to be asked is if the families have the resources to bring up children by giving them all the opportunities.
“We must also see if families have the resources to bring up children in an egalitarian manner by giving them all opportunities of education and other resources. Without doing all that I don’t think we should encourage large families. I repeat myself: we should have an efficient, healthy, highly educated population, not a large population for the sake of having a large population. I welcome maternity leave and that should be extended to both the government and private sector,” he said.
Tamil Nadu’s Total Fertility Rate, or TFR, stands at 1.3 which is lower than the replacement level of 2.1, state Health Minister KG Arunraj said last month. The state’s TFR was 1.4 in 2025.
TFR indicates the number of children expected to be born per woman during the entire span of her reproductive period. A replacement level of 2.1 is considered necessary to maintain population stability. The country’s TFR stands at 1.9.
When pointed out if the falling fertility rate in Tamil Nadu was not a concern, the Congress MP was not impressed.
“Not a concern to me. The modern world will be better served with a smaller and highly trained population, not a large population for the sake of numbers,” he argued.
In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu too has pivoted from advocating family planning to announcing incentives of Rs 30,000 to families on the birth of a third child and Rs 40,000 for the fourth. The Chief Minister warned that India should not repeat the mistakes committed by countries like South Korea and Japan.
At the time, Karti Chidambaram had criticised the move.
“To rear a child in the 21st century, you please calculate the cost. Not the minor sops of Rs 5,000 or Rs 10,000 and 365 days leave is not enough. All this is an eyewash. I don’t agree with Andhra Pradesh. I disagree with it and I disagree with any state government or any government that encourages large families. We need a highly educated, highly trained and healthy small population. That’s what India requires,” the MP said.
The DMK, the principal Opposition party in the state, has welcomed the move, urging that the same be extended to the private sector as well.
“No doubt this is a good move. Any move which will ensure women are empowered, that offers some benefits to women is welcome. Now, definitely we should also go to the private sector. Tamil Nadu has a successfully brought down population, we adopted the 2-child norm way back. And no woman will want to change that mindset. After economic growth, we are seeing the concept of DINK (Double Income No Kids), so this move is welcome. But it is going to benefit very, very few people,” DMK spokesperson A Saravanan said.
