If you want to make a little bit of cash, all you have to do is to get married and produce as many as five children! The Catholic Church in Kerala has come out with an irresistible offer to Catholic couples who produce five children or more.

“Every fifth child born in the family in our parish stands to get richer by Rs10,000. It will be deposited in the name of the child as fixed deposit,” Salu Mecheril, regional coordinator of the programme launched by St Vincent De Paul Forane Church, Kalpetta in Wynadu district told DNA.

Mecheril, who is also the regional spokesman of the powerful Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) said the offer has been accepted by the laity with open arms. Interestingly, the offer has turned controversial with the Kerala government appointed Commission on Rights and Welfare of Women and Children recommending punitive action against parents with more than two children.

The Commission is headed by V R Krishna Iyer, former judge of the Supreme Court. The recommendations include strict implementation of the two-child policy and the charging of fine on couples having more than two children. It reportedly says that the government needn’t provide aids for those couples having more children.

People should not use the excuses of religion, caste, race, locality etc to have more children. Safe and secure methods of abortion should be made available in all hospitals and health centres. Those who violate these rules should be subjected to civil and criminal procedures and the parents who violate the laws will be punished. A special law should be formulated for the purpose.

A Commission consisting of not less than 10 members should be formed to implement the policy of population control. It also recommends fining those who campaign against the suggestions of the Bill one year after its implementation.

The suggestion submitted to the state government has caused widespread resentment in Muslim and Christian communities. The KCBC issued a pastoral letter condemning the Commission’s recommendations and was read in all Catholic churches in the state.

“This is an unwanted controversy and recommendation. If the government wants to control population in the state, it should be through awareness programme and education,” septuagenarian Joseph Pulikkunnel, director, Indian Institute of Christian Studies, Pala, told this newspaper. He also condemned the offer of the Kalpetta based Church asking the laity to produce more children.

“Don’t think that Catholic women are just human machines producing children. Times have changed. Every additional child born in a family is a burden in all sense,” he said.

The Krishna Iyer Commission, appointed by the previous LDF government stirred a hornets’ nest last year when it asked the government to legalize euthanasia and amend the Indian Penal Code Act dealing with cases related to suicide. This too had generated big controversy with the KCBC and Islamic organizations condemning the same.

But Mecheril warns that the two-children norm was followed only by the Hindus and Christians in the state. “Birth rate among Nair and Nampoodiri communities in Kerala have come down drastically along with the Catholic community because of strict adherence of family planning. This will create social problems like increase in the number of spinsters because of shortage of suitable bridegrooms,” he said.

He also reminded the caution expressed by late Varkey Mar Vithayathil, the former Major Cardinal of Kerala. “In another fifteen years, Kerala will become a Muslim majority state as only Hindus and Christians follow strict family planning norms. This is dangerous,” the late Cardinal had said in an interview in 2005.

Paul Zachariah, writer and columnist, said the government should reject the Iyer Conmmission recommendation. “If some parents decide to have a dozen children or more, let it their headache.

Don’t you think that the government has lot of other things to do instead of sending investigators to find out the number of children generated by civil society?. This is nothing but blatant violation of fundamental rights. If you want to bring down the birth rate, there are other ways,” said Zachariah.