The Indian Government has launched a scheme offering financial incentives for marriage aimed at tackling the country's soaring population.
The Prerna Yojana plan will offer girls classified as below the poverty line 5,000 ruppees as an incentive to get married after the age of 19.
The newly-married couple should then have their first child after at least two years of marriage, with 5,000 rupees on offer for producing a boy and 7,000 for the birth of a girl. Parents will receive the same amount again for their second child, as long as the gap between the two births is at least three years.
The couple must then have a family planning operation within a year of the birth of the second child, meaning they cannot have more children.
To receive the cash benefits, the couple must produce a marriage certificate, birth certificates for the children, and family planning operation certificate from the doctor.
It is part of the Government's ongoing efforts to control the population to aid economic growth and social development.
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