No sex as Indians are forced to watch

Will television outrate late-night sex?

By CNN's Andrew Demaria
in Hong Kong

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Worried that a lack of late-night entertainment was forcing many Indians to indulge in nocturnal sex, authorities are looking for a new turn-on to keep the population turned-off.

In an attempt to curb a baby boom it can ill afford, Indian politicians admitted they were considering providing cheap television sets for many of its citizens.

Union Health Minister C.P. Thakur told India's Lok Sabha (House of the People) on Wednesday that people deprived of entertainment yielded to procreation.

"Entertainment is an important component of the population policy, we want people to watch television," the Times of India quoted Thakur as saying.

He added that the government would consider giving cheap television sets to the poor in a bid to stem India's population growth.

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His comments followed concern in parliament that India would soon overtake China as the world's most populous country.

India's population is estimated at 1.014 billion (July, 2000) and the rate of growth was 1.58 percent (2000 est).

China's population at the same time was higher at 1.26 billion but its growth rate was lower at 0.9 percent.

Thakur said that men were reluctant to adopt contraceptive methods but a new contraceptive pill for males would be available soon.

It was also important for the government to provide incentives for states that manage to arrest the population growth rate, he added.

But in considering subjecting the masses to the wonders of late night television shows, the government is resorting to any contraception method, no matter how unusual, to keep the population down.