The State Government is encouraging the people to increase the number of family members in line with its aspiration to achieve a developed state status and increase its new generation.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman said the State Government also intended to reward those families who were successful in having high births.

He said the State Government had asked the State Health, Woman, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Datuk Muhammad Pahemi Yusof to study the matter and determine the rewards that would be given to them.

"This is because we have a relativly low population at 1.1 million. So, we are encouraging the people in the state to increase the number of their family members and we will reward them.

"For example, we want a mother to deliver more than 12 children," he said when visiting Merdeka babies at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital here, Monday.

He said the Family Development Foundation had also implemented counselling services to families with problems.

"Undeniably, there are those experiencing problems but are ashamed to speak out. So, we create this alternative to help them solve the problems," he said.

In addition, he said the State Government was also expanding, and had implemented, the second honeymoon programme.