Indian state badly needs more babies

Yogesh and Rupa at their home in Namchi, in the Himalayan state of Sikkim, India. Despite five unsuccessful IVF procedures, a government incentive for people to have children has encouraged them to try for the sixth time. — ©2023 The New York Times Company

SIKKIM, nestled in the Himalayas and surrounded on three sides by Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, stands out in the teeming diversity of India’s states. It has the country’s tallest peak. It is the world’s largest producer of smoky black cardamom.

It also has India’s smallest population, not even three-quarters of a million people, and its lowest birthrate.