Nagpur: To ‘restore’ the Parsi population in the country, the Minority Affairs Ministry has devised a scheme. The ministry claims that the Parsi population has been declining in India due to eligible bachelors’ lack of desire for marriage.
In what can be seen as a solution to the problem, the ministry has come up with a ‘Jiyo Pars’i Programme which will promote Parsi men and women to engage in ‘online dating and marriage counseling. According to the stats as reported by PTI, over 30 percent of eligible adults are unmarried in the Parsi community.
Director of Parzor Foundation, Shernaz Cama, who is one of the implementing bodies of the scheme said that it is necessary to encourage people of the Parsi community to marry and have children because the total fertility rate in the community is 0.8 per couple and the average of 800 people die every year against the birth of 200 to 300 children which is worse in comparison to the situation of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians.
He added that the main reason for not getting married is the strong feeling of independence among youth, especially women. “They also have the responsibility of taking care of the elderly, which is another reason why they are not getting married,” he said.
As per the new National Health and Family Welfare Survey (NHFWS), the total fertility rate is 1.94 in the Hindu community, 2.36 in the Muslim community, 1.88 in the Christian community and 1.61 in the Sikh community.
According to the 2011 census, the population of the Parsi community in the country was 57,264 as against 1,14,000 in 1941.
