Cleric MP defies Ahmadinejad on plans to raise birth rate

04/17/10

Ahmadinejad has said his government plans to pay 1000 dollars for every child born in the current year and increase it by 100 dollars each year.

Children at Village of Zarg in Kouhrang, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiyari province of Iran

A cleric MP sitting on the Majlis Economic Committee countered an argument by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had said he was opposed to a two-child policy, saying the country's strategy is to keep birth rate at a low level.

In general "president is not the system's strategist. Rather he (is tasked) to implement laws and macroeconomic policies," MP Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moqaddam told the Mehr News Agency on Saturday.

In a live TV program on Tuesday night President Ahmadinejad said he was not happy with the current birth rate which he described as low.

Mesbahi-Moqaddam said even in the late 1980s when the population growth was high the late Imam Khomeini endorsed suggestions by officials for controlling the birth rate.

Feeding and clothing children and providing lodging, education for them entails proper planning, the lawmaker explained.

Children attending School for Nomads in Ahvaz, Iran

Now when a considerable ratio of the youth population is unemployed and cannot afford marriage expenses any talk of birth rise is "improper".

Mesbahi-Moqaddam even said if the president has an idea for increasing birth rate he personally cannot propose strategy for it.

In the 1980s Iran's birth rate stood at about 3.2 percent. However, since that date it has been decreasing and reaching 1.3 percent.

President Ahmadinejad said his government plans to pay 1000 dollars for every child born in the current year and increase it by 100 dollars each year.

"Any promises" by the president must first be endorsed by experts and also be "practicable", he added.

For example, he said, every year 1.35 million children are born in the country and if $1000 is paid for each newborn 1.35 billion dollars is needed for this purpose.

It is not clear what will be the source of this money or on the basis of what "legal documents" such statements are made, the cleric trained in economy said.