In the wake of alarming fall in the population of Parsis, a monthly allowance would be provided to the couples in the community who give birth to a second or a third child, Bombay Parsi Punchayet said.





At a congregation of the community held at Sanjan in Valsad district of Gujarat yesterday, it was decided that every Parsi couple giving birth to second child would get Rs 3,000 per month till the child attains the age of 18 years, while the couple giving birth to a third child will get Rs 5,000 per month, Punchayat's chairman Dinshaw Mehta said.



Speaking to PTI over phone, Mehta said, "The congregation was attended by about 3,000 Parsis from various parts of the country and abroad. We discussed the issue of survival of Zoroastrian community in changing times."



The congregation is held every year on 'Sanjan Day' which marks arrival of the Parsis in India at Sanjan 1,297 years ago.



"Every year there is a decrease of 10 to 15 per cent in Parsi population. The number will fall to 36,000 by 2050 if no serious efforts are made to check the trend," he said.