The Minority Affairs Ministry has formulated a strategy to “restore” the Parsi population in India, which has been found to be decreasing due to the eligible bachelors’ absence of desire for marriage. In light of this, the ministry connive the “Jiyo Parsi” programme, which enables Parsi men and women to commit in “online dating” and marriage counselling. Notably, according to statistics, about 30 per cent of eligible adults are unmarried in the Parsi community, PTI noted.
The Parsi community’s all-around fertility rate is about 0.8 per couple, and on average, 800 people die each year correlated to the birth of 200 to 300 children, which is terrible than the situation faced by Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians, according to Shernaz Cama Director of Parzor Foundation, one of the organisations behind enforcing this scheme.
However, the “Jiyo Parsi” programme, for which a budget of 4 to 5 crore rupees is distributed annually, was introduced by the Minority Affairs Ministry in November 2013 with the goal of offsetting the population of the Parsi community and putting up their overall fertility rate in India.
Talking to PTI, Cama told, “Since the launch of the scheme (till July 15), 376 babies are born, which is more than the average of 200 babies born in the Parsi community every year… It has been found in the study that about 30 per cent of adults in the Parsi community are unmarried even though they are eligible for marriage. 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 their elderly, which is another reason why they are not able to get married.”
