Delay a baby and win a second honeymoon
Authorities in western India are offering to pay for a second honeymoon for couples who delay the birth of their first child by two years in an attempt to control birth rates, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.
The offer, called the "Honeymoon Package", is being made by authorities in Satara district in the state of Maharashtra, the Times of India said.
Couples delaying the birth of their first child by two years would get a honeymoon package worth 5,000 rupees (61 pounds) and around 7,500 rupees (91 pounds) if they can hold off for three years, it said.
"The money is sufficient for a couple to enjoy a second honeymoon for two or three days at a favourite destination," district health officer V.H. Mohite was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Satara has a population of about 3 million. A recent survey found that the district registered about 25,000 marriages every year and 87 percent of the newly weds had a child in the first year of marriage.
Authorities hope that if 20 percent of couples take up the offer, the birth of more than 4,000 babies could be delayed every year.
India, with 1.1 billion people, is the world's second most populous nation. But with an annual population growth rate of 1.7 percent, it is expected to overtake China by 2025.
(AP) 据印度一家报纸本周二消息，印度西部的地方政府为了控制出生率，新推出一项二次蜜月计划，婚后推迟两年生第一胎的夫妇即可享受此福利。
据《印度时报》报道，该项被称为“蜜月大礼包”的计划是由印度马哈拉施特拉州萨塔拉区政府推出的。
据悉，婚后推迟两年生第一胎的夫妇将能获赠价值5000卢比（61英镑）的“蜜月大礼包”，推迟三年的夫妇能得到价值7500卢比的“大礼包”。
《印度时报》援引区政府卫生部官员莫海特的话说：“这么多钱足以让一对夫妇去他们最想去的地方度个两三天的二次蜜月。”
萨塔拉约有300万人口。据近日的一项调查，该区每年有2万5千对夫妇登记结婚，87%的新婚夫妇婚后的第一年就生了孩子。
政府希望，如果20%的夫妇接受这项计划，那么每年的新生儿数量将减少4000个。
目前，印度人口已达到11亿，是世界第二大人口大国。印度的年人口增长率为1.7%，预计到2025年将超过中国。
Vocabulary:
newly weds :新婚夫妇 |
