Or Rs. 1000. That is the cash reward you can get if you are a member of the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya in north east India who can produce more than 15 children. Some major action going on in Meghalaya.
Solving India’s population problem one child at a time
(Photo: BBC.com)
Amelia Sohtun has 17 children and she has recently received a cash reward of several hundred dollars for mothering them. So have Dorothia Kharbani and Philomena Sohlangpiaw for producing 15 children each. All three are members of the Khasi tribe in India’s north-eastern state of Meghalaya.
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Dorothia Kharbani (58) and Philomena Sohlangpiaw (45) were given 15,000 Indian rupees ($337) each for mothering more than 15 children.
It does appear extremely short sighted on their part to reproduce for a cash prize. What happens after you get the prize? How long will this cash last with 15 children? But there is a deeper and darker underlying aspect to this issue – regional and local politics.
From a research paper titled: ” High Fertility in Khasi Tribe of Northeast India – A Repercussion of the Fear of Identity Loss?” (page 4):
In recent times a revivalist movement has influenced the tribal societies of India, especially the tribes in Northeast India that are trying to seek a separate identity. This is due to a combination of several factors such as perceived social, political and economic injustices arising out of the short-sighted policies of different regional and national level political parties competing for power (Narahari 1997). Some tribal communities feel increasingly threatened by an influx of illegal migrants that has the potential to reduce the tribal population to minority status in their own land.
One response to these injustices and to the perceived threat of a reduction to minority status has been for the community to attempt to preserve control over their own land by restricting land rights and inheritance only to particular tribal members, for example, the Khasi community members. Another response that appears to have occurred is the adoption of a larger family size norm than that held previously.
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