Have more kids

Bihar is up for grabs in elections next year. Being a backward state and having been Lalooed for 15 years, if you were to believe economists like Robert Barro, the poor state will require several decades just to play catch up. In such a situation, pressures of anti-incumbency against CM Nitish Kumar is immense. It does not help that he is part of the wrong coalition. Right about now the poor soul is screaming at anyone who would listen (not many in the media) that he needs to be credited for the legendary railway turnaround story. More on that later.

Secular media is doing its bit, with CNN-IBN taking the lead in special reports on Bihar.

We reported earlier on the biased coverage on mob violence in Bihar. Meanwhile please take a look at this news item: 7-year old brutally beaten by a mob in West Bengal. Anyway.

CNN-IBN just published a story about a family welfare scheme going horribly wrong in Bihar.

Patna: The Government may be spending lakhs of rupees on population control, but some schemes are turning out to be counter-productive. CNN-IBN found that in rural Bihar, villagers are having more babies just to get money promised under welfare schemes.

In Katihar, it's a common sight to see a long queue of women outside a Government hospital. They are usually there to take grants promised under welfare schemes like the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and the Janani Bal Suraksha Yojana (JBSY).

As usual CNN-IBN totally ignores the fine print. This scheme has nothing to do with Bihar Government per se. The UPA Government launched the National Rural Health Mission, of which the Bihar scheme is just an implementation. As a matter of fact, the original scheme provided coverage for up to two children. This cap was recently removed after a central Government directive. (Quick quiz: Why do you think the cap was removed? Did the Government have any particular demographic in mind?). Needless to say, for many poor and marginal families, the Rs. 1400/- odd per child up front creates a strong enough short-term incentive. The same thing must be going on in UP, MP etc.

Arguably, the Gujarat Chiranjeevi scheme removes this moral hazard by introducing a public private- partnership model.