印度總?cè)丝跀?shù)量已經(jīng)接近12億，其中近半人口年齡在25歲以下，未來(lái)幾十年，印度人口將達(dá)到15－19億。人口年輕化帶來(lái)了充沛的勞動(dòng)力和城市活力，但人口快速膨脹會(huì)帶來(lái)一系列問(wèn)題，影響社會(huì)穩(wěn)定，造成資源緊缺、教育缺失、失業(yè)人口大增以及饑餓等問(wèn)題。為避免人口繼續(xù)過(guò)快增長(zhǎng)，印度一些地方政府針對(duì)新婚夫婦推出了“蜜月大禮包”項(xiàng)目，新婚夫婦推遲生育兩年，就可獲得5000盧比(約合730元人民幣)的現(xiàn)金獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。印度人口出生率最高的地區(qū)都是最貧困、居民受教育程度偏低的地區(qū)，政府推出現(xiàn)金獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)項(xiàng)目有望改變當(dāng)?shù)氐娜丝谠鲩L(zhǎng)速度和模式。

Dr. Archana R. Khade, left, and a nurse, Sunita Laxman Jadhav, right, explained incentives to delay childbirth to a new bride near Satara this month. (Agencies)

As part of a pilot program aimed at curbing India’s runaway population growth, some regional governments have begun offering monetary incentives to newlyweds willing to delay having children for a few years.

Nurses have been going door to door in Maharashtra this summer peddling the so-called “honeymoon package” which pays new couples as much as Rs. 5,000 (US$107) if they wait two years before getting pregnant, according to The New York Times.

India is second only to China in terms of total population, but while China’s population is getting older, India is in the midst of a “baby boom” era. Of the nearly 1.2 billion people living in India, about half are under the age of 25. This could be one of the country’s greatest strengths going forward as an immense young workforce begins to form, but it could also potentially lead to its undoing as the government is challenged with providing hundreds of millions of children with schooling and other state services.

In coming decades, India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation, and the critical uncertainty is just how populous it will be. Estimates range from 1.5 billion to 1.9 billion people, and Indian leaders recognize that that must be avoided.

This issue is further compounded by fact that birth rates in India are highest in the country’s poorest and least educated regions, like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, birth rates are lowest in the wealthier southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where students are typically educated about the use of contraception.

“An educated girl is your best contraception,” Dr. Amarjit Singh, executive director of India’s National Population Stabilization Fund, told The New York Times. By his estimations, roughly half of India’s future excess population growth is expected to come from its six poorest states.

It remains unclear what the best method is to tackle population growth, but policies like the “honeymoon package” are well intended, and some believe well overdue.

“It’s already late,” said Sabu Padmadas, a demographer at the University of Southhampton. “It’s definitely high time for India to act.”

On the whole, India’s current birth rate is estimated at about 21.76 births per 10,000 and has seen a slow but steady decline in recent years, partly due to improved education. By comparison, China has a birth rate of about 14 per 10,000 and the United States stands at about 13.82 per 10,000 as of 2009.

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(Agencies)

（中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Helen 編輯）