Archive · 12 Aug 2026
Jiyo Parsi Scheme Facilitates 534 Births Amid Population Decline
The Parsi people are a very small community in India.
For many years, their numbers have been going down.
The government started a program called Jiyo Parsi to help Parsi families have babies.
The program pays for doctor visits, treatments, and care after a baby is born.
Since 2014, 534 Parsi babies have been born with the program's help.
The government has spent about 37.43 crore rupees on the program.
Officials say the program is working and gives hope for the community's future.
But one person who helped run it says big change takes many decades and needs a shift in mindset.
If fewer babies are born, a community can slowly disappear, so this program aims to keep the Parsi community alive.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju told the Rajya Sabha that the Jiyo Parsi scheme has facilitated 534 births since 2014-15.
The Centre has spent Rs 37.43 crore on the scheme, helping 582 members with infertility treatment, childbearing, childbirth and post-natal care.
Census data shows India's Parsi population fell from a 1941 peak of 114,791 to 57,264 in 2011.
Community leader Dinshaw Tamboly attributed the decline to late marriages, falling birth rates, infertility, high numbers of unmarried people and inter-community marriages.
PARZOR's Pearl Mistry said 428 babies were born under the scheme by 2022-23 but reversing the decline needs decades and a mindset change.
- Who
- Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, WZO Trust Funds chairman Dinshaw Tamboly and PARZOR Foundation's Pearl Mistry.
- What
- The Jiyo Parsi scheme has facilitated 534 births since 2014-15 to help reverse India's declining Parsi-Zoroastrian population.
- When
- Since 2014-15; the latest figures were announced on Monday in the Rajya Sabha.
- Where
- India; announced in the Rajya Sabha, with a National Commission for Minorities presentation held in Mumbai.
- Why
- To reverse the Parsi population decline, which experts attribute to late marriages, falling birth rates, infertility, high rates of unmarried people and inter-community marriages.
Official Optimism
Cautious Outlook
Effectiveness of the scheme
Official Optimism
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju says the 534 births offer hope of stabilising the Parsi population and cites independent third-party evaluations that found the scheme successful.
Cautious Outlook
Former implementer Pearl Mistry says such programmes require decades and a change in mindset, as convincing couples to have more children is 'a different ballgame'.
- Scheme
- Jiyo Parsi
- Births facilitated (since 2014-15)
- 534
- Total expenditure
- Rs 37.43 crore
- Reproductive assistance beneficiaries
- 582
- Health of Community beneficiaries (since 2018-19)
- 1,055
- Parsi population (2011 Census)
- 57,264
- Births under PARZOR (by 2022-23)
- 428
- Implementation agencies
- PARZOR, Bombay Parsi Punchayet, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Ministry of Minority Affairs