VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh is set to do away with the two-child rule for contesting local body elections.
The govt Wednesday introduced two Bills in the state assembly proposing amendments to Panchayat Raj and Municipal Administration Acts, which will repeal relevant sections of the law that render people with more than two children ineligible for contesting in local body elections.
Municipal administration and urban development minister P Narayana introduced ‘Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill 2024’ and ‘Andhra Pradesh Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2024’ in the assembly. CM N Chandrababu Naidu has been advocating for an increase in population in the state for better demographic management. He has emphasised that southern states should focus on mitigating the ageing population in the future as fertility rates are gradually declining.
“The legislations introduced for birth control during the 90s produced good results, but the continuous decline in population could create the problem of an ageing population, similar to that of Japan, China, and some European countries,” Naidu stated in multiple public meetings. The state cabinet recently approved the proposal to remove the clause that makes people ineligible to contest local body elections. The Bills introduced in assembly are likely to be passed without any opposition.
Finance minister Payyavula Keshav introduced another important Bill – Andhra Pradesh Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment) 2024 – which proposes to increase the age of superannuation of judicial officers in the state from 60 to 61 years. The cabinet recently approved the proposal, and accordingly, an amendment Bill was introduced in the assembly. The govt also laid papers on the table pertaining to the ordinances issued for vote-on-account budgets and the amendments brought to the AP Excise Act to enable a new policy for retail liquor shops.
