KARACHI, June 9: The department of population welfare has asked the provincial government to allocate about Rs100 million in its budget for 2003-04 so that population control programmes could be launched with renewed vigour.

This was disclosed at a press briefing on Monday by Imtiaz Sheikh, minister for population welfare. He said if the population was allowed to grow unchecked, the already scarce resources would simply be overrun by the teeming multitudes.

“Our aim is to bring down the population growth rate from 2.2 per cent now to 2.1 per cent by 2004,” said the minister. “We also want to see the population stabilized by the year 2025.”

Mr Shaikh claimed that his ministry was more important than several other ones. That’s why the government should be more forthcoming in terms of budgetary allocations.

In response to a question, the minister said the situation obtaining in the population welfare department was dire. “We are using old vehicles, which in any case are too few in number.” Its buildings were also in a shabby condition.

Answering a question, he said in 2002-03 his department had been promised Rs348 million. “However, only Rs291 million has been released.”

Mr Shaikh told the reporters that recently the services of hundreds of his workers had been transferred to the health department. “This has affected our performance very badly.”

He was of the view that councillors and legislators should be involved in the population control initiatives. “This will ensure accountability and transparency,” the minister claimed.

Mr Shaikh said his biggest priority was to create an awareness about the problem at hand.