Only PM can rein in 'disastrous' population growth, says CJP at symposium
Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday termed unbridled population growth as the "most disastrous issue" for Pakistan, and regretted that the "menace" was not given any attention in the past 60 years.
He made the remarks while addressing a symposium in the capital on the alarming population growth in Pakistan.
"Our water reserves and resources are depleting, but our mouths [to feed] are increasing," he said while addressing the event that was attended by several high-profile personalities, including judges and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
CJP Nisar called on the prime minister to probe why no dam had been built in Pakistan in the past 40 years and why the country was facing such an "alarming" situation.
"Today we have no water management in Pakistan. Water is life, without water we cannot conceive a life," he said.
The top judge said that the apex court had created a task force which presented its recommendations after holding a few sessions but added that "that was the extent of their power".
"The judiciary does not have any mechanism to act on these recommendations," he said. "The only person who can get any implementation done is the prime minister," he said.
He said the Supreme Court has played its part in amplifying and understanding human rights and now it was the Executive's job to take them forward.
Justice Nisar said the burden on the judicial system did not go back to just the past five to seven years but it was centuries old.
"The tools have to be given to us by the parliament," he said, regretting that so much time had passed but laws had not been updated.
"Perhaps the time has come to stop boycotting the parliament and sit in the parliament and [start doing] our actual duty," he said.
CJP Nisar said models used by other countries to restrain their population growth were before the country and that they just needed to be implemented and awareness needed to be created.
"I am hopeful that with good intentions, we will reach our dream in a few years," the top judge said.
Problems exist due to 'short-term thinking': PM
Prime Minister Imran Khan began his address by thanking the top judge for inviting him to the event. "I am glad I am not being presented in courtroom number one," he joked.
Speaking at the day-long symposium, Khan expressed "the nation's resolve to address the population growth in the country", reported Radio Pakistan.
Addressing CJP Nisar, the premier said that the steps that the top judge had taken should have been taken by democratic governments instead.
"The democratic governments unfortunately only used to think about five years," he said, adding that nothing could be accomplished in that time span for major issues.
"We are in these problems because of a short-term thinking," Prime Minister Khan regretted.
The premier recalled the family planning campaigns shown on television in the 1960s, saying those were very "effective".
He said that people were under the impression that (formerly) East Pakistan had been a burden on the country's population, but today Bangladesh had gotten ahead of Pakistan because of their long-term thinking.
"As the population continues to grow, our food security will be affected," he cautioned.
Prime Minister Khan thanked the CJP for raising the matter of population growth which he called a very "serious issue".
He said the government has formed task forces to address population growth, adding that he was glad that all provincial chief ministers were on board for the initiative.
Khan noted that the delivery system of contraceptives in the country was an issue but what was actually needed was an ambition to resolve the problem.
"There is a big role for the ulema," he said, citing examples of Iran and Bangladesh where population control campaigns were done from mosques. The premier said Pakistan too needed to involve its mosques in the campaign.
'Singularity of narrative'
The event is being attended by provincial chief ministers, judges of the Supreme Court, ministers and other officials including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider.
Former senator Javed Jabbar, while addressing the symposium, acknowledged former president Ayub Khan's contribution, noting that while he may not have been a democratically elected leader, credit should be given to him for highlighting family planning.
"Why have we forgotten the narrative [in the last fifty years]?" he asked. "There needs to be a singularity of narrative."
Renowned religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jamil observed that the problem in Pakistan was "illiteracy" and stressed the importance of education to bring population growth under control.
He noted that while the symposium was being held in Islamabad, the problem is more prevalent in rural areas.
Vice-president of the Population Council, John Bongaarts, the first speaker of the event, highlighted the levels of contraceptives used in Pakistan as compared to other countries in the region such as Bangladesh and India.
Furthermore, he presented the benefits of family planning programmes, adding that this was an extremely important event for Pakistan.
Co-chair of the World Health Organisation High-Level Independent Commission on Non-communicable diseases, Dr Sania Nishtar, while addressing the symposium, said "today is a landmark day" and remarked that the "stellar show of strength" of various stakeholders was "critical" to the cause.
A documentary on population dynamics was presented at the event.
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Comments (99) Closed
Construction of Dams are Over, Next Task stop the population growth ;;
Family planning ha failed in Pakistan. Now, "Bachay dou he achay" should be experimented with strict penalties for not complying.
Please arrange a similar awareness campaign for courts to decide cases urgently.
Good initiative and I fully endorse the importance of population growth that influence our resources, capabilities and exceed demands relating to education, health care, energy and providing basic necessities to our citizens. For learned readers information, according to UN's statistics the average annual world pollution rate is about 1.1% and our growth rate is more than double. We have to take appropriate measures to control our population rate, otherwise, we will run out of our resources fairly quickly and poverty will increase beyond control.
Pakistan's most serious problem is population growth. Every man likes to retire after having four sons to feed him the rest of his life. There must be compulsory sterilization after having two children. The retirement age should be 65 years old. Social Security type benefits be introduced in Pakistan, in which each person must contribute during the life time of work.
A growing population can generate economic growth. The birth of more people equates to a greater number of parents investing in their youth. Increased purchases in products such as food, clothing, education-related expenses, sporting goods and toys feed the economy.
Population growth is a myth.. if the population is the real problem China should be the poorest country... it is all about human development.. if we become a nation where our leaders hold their personal growth more the human development this is what happens...technologically speaking ..where are we...A successful society or a country is characterized by a rising living standard for its population, increasing investment in factories and basic infrastructure, and the generation of additional surplus, which is invested in generating new discoveries in science and technology. unfortunately neither we ever have the surplus cos it was stashed in elsewhere nor we ever had the infrastructure or any scientific developments...The irony is we talk about a population while we are already been born...
Population growth is not a real issue. The real issue is corruption which is the mother of all evils. China stopped corruption in their country and they are a super power in rhe world despite having the biggest population in the world.
We have natural resources i.e. gas and oil eruptions in KP and Baluchistan. The government needs to aducate youth and get the most out of them.
A good initiative. Will require long-term commitment both political & financial. Awareness & Education of common people is a must.
@Odd views, well said, this is his basic responsibility where he has utterly failed.
No need to waste money, improve your facilities and forget about population growth, it's good in terms of growth and foreign investments.
@khanm, Sir China was poorest country till they didnt adopted one child policy. if population is low you have lower people to feed and serve and fewer people share national resources. just see around most of the lower populated countries part of developed world while highly populated countries are either poor or still developing including your favorite China and unfavorite India.
@Gin, "Construction of Dams are Over, Next Task stop the population growth".
You maybe capable of doing just one thing at a time, but governments are capable of multitasking.
So don't you worry!
CJ should order pop tax if more than one child family must pay tax which goes into dam fund
@Markhor , "A growing population can generate economic growth."
This at the cost of better standard-living. You need to manager available resource to provide better water, education, home, health facilities.
We need 7%GDP growth to maintain our life style with respect to current population growth rate.
Unless there are harsh rules like China, population growth cannot be controlled. Or the society should be developed enough to consider having more children is disastrous. Unless either of these happens population growth will continue at high rates.
There is chaos everywhere.
Growth in population declined but no one highlighted
Population is a blessing, the more people, bigger the economy.
when their is just in society, every thing gets regulated automatically.
Most sensible move by CJP
If there is one thing to learn from China then it is how to control population. We must leverage the experience of friendly nation and implement.
@khanm, china imposed 1 child policy on government employees, others had more than.1 child, but faced difficulties with residency permits, health care, and education. hence, the controlled their population to what it is today.
Give tax breaks to families with two children or less. Population control will happen. Nothing works better than financial incentive.
Child tax is in order.
The most important is education, especially for women, which basically changes the way people think.
Unfortunately poor families make more children, due to lack of education.
One of the major problems of Pakistan. More uneducated( uneducated = misguided ) humans like creatures roaming the streets. Educate them with knowledge. Judiciary doing the job of planning ministry, who will do judicial tasks? Pakistan's other major issue is judicial system. Top guy should first make it effective and efficient first rather than complaining. PM has not learnt anything from predecessor. Nawaz kept all ministries to himself and his family and Imran does not have an interior Minister. Why are these guys so afraid? Keep doing your own job and delegate the jobs if you want to be stable and growth oriented. You are as important at this time as others were in theirs.
As CJ kindly provide quick justice.That is your JOB . Dams, hospitals, education , population there are others to care for.
@Markhor , This is called short term myopic thinking. Their is a limit of a land to support certain number of people and resources are scarce. You cannot keep multiplying like rats and expect that the land will not be run down and that resources are going to be unlimited.
@khanm, well said
Control of population has to be thru education and incentives compulsion will never work.
@Patriotic 786, The penalties should apply to all citizens not just the poor.
Increase in population also affects the job market. So yes, population is the cause of many issues. But I must admit, I haven't herd a word on population control in a very long time.
@Zia Uddin, Good thinking that needs to be implemented.
@khanm, .... Population growth in Pakistan will wipe out every economic gain Pakistan makes - just as it is doing now.
Great to note the CJP has started to delegate some work at least. Albeit to PMIK himself but nice, At least he is not bent on doing all himself.
@khanm, Population growth is not a myth - there was a reason why China enforced its 1-child policy and even now, that policy can only be circumvented under strict conditions. Unbridled population growth has lead to horrendous strife. Pakistan needs to gets its population growth under control as soon as possible
Please please plesse, give the CJ another term of extension.
@Sanity, ... Population growth is not a real issue? Ask General Bajwa about that. Overpopulation = one thing, and one thing only. It equals unemployment. When there is too much population growth people are unemployed because business and industry can't keep pace.
Overpopulation was the cause of the French Revolution and the Cause of World War I.
Combination of right and wrong leadership to address population growth issues. Than you IK.
@Ayaan, -- -- The problem is there will never be enough investment from the private sector and the government. The money will just not be there. It is time for Pakistan to wake up. The crisis is already here.
Imran Khan is the first Prime Minister who has spoken up about addressing the critical issue of the population growth and has formed a task force on this matter. The PPP and PML-N did not even bother to acknowledge it.
@khanm, you are confusing "population" with "population growth". Population is nit a problem, its uncontrolled growth us problem. With current growth rate do you how many NEW schools, hospitals, colleges, roads, water and food we nedd just to sustain current level of poverty and human development index? Try to calculate it for 5 million additional people every year, you will loose your sleep that night.
@Kamran, .. .. and 14% will be far from enough when the population doubles. and it will double half way to the end of this century.
this will be successful in 2 ways. 1 incentive for those with 2 children or less 2 penalties for those having more than 2.
Finallly . People start focusing on real issue. Continuous progression of Democracy bring lot of change in thinking. Control population our 50% of problems will solve.
Finally the problem is spoken about
Growth is appropriate because life span is shorter in Pakistan.
More than half of Pakistan land is barren, desert or mountains. This population growth will create huge internal conflicts and strife. Learn from China 1 child and India 2 child policy. Parents can better educate and better bring up 1 child. More children was a thing of past to insure family against disease, wars etc and provide more farm labour. Today wars are no longer fought with swords or spears, farms have tractors, wells have pumps, there are medicines for malaria and typhoid. It is the age of technology power and no longer the age of manpower.
Population growth has a direct effect on GDP per head as increase in resources can never catch up with the rate at which our population is growing.
UK population, 56 million in 1990 has jumped to just 65 million in 2018 During the same period Pak population has swelled from from 90 million to 220 million
It is easy to see where the problem lies in developing countries apart from scarcity of resources
Is CJP hinting by mentioning IK that man should not marry multiple times and stop having multiple wives. This will reduce population growth.
Population can only grow as fast as food supply
@Awalmir, “Chaos”
Yeah! Why not bring more people into the world? The is what the majority thinks. Speaks volumes for the education system, doesn’t it?
@Markhor , are you for real? How is it better to have more children if you haven’t got the means to feed and educate them?
@khanm, you are forgetting China had a one child policy for years and even now the maximum is only two!
@Maria enteparia onnuchoriu,
The more people, the lower the quality of life! Surprised that you don’t know that. You usually make intelligent comments.
@ARK,
You’re assuming they pay taxes in the first place.
@Swiss Neutral,
“Lack of education” results in over population, which then again results in lack of education. It’s a vicious cycle that must be interrupted, if Pakistan is to survive.
Unless this out of control population groth is borught under control, there will be chaos in the Pakistani cities in about twenty years from now. Pakistan would probably become an open territory.
The country is heading towards chaos unless we control the population.
We need to create a system that helps completely stop the corruption from the society.
Population increases is unavoidable. It’s a benefit as long as we educate children. I have 17 children from my wives and I look after them all very well and all are educated.
@Maria enteparia onnuchoriu, Yeah, The world knows where is India today with respect to China in any index. China disciplined its population ( albeit with brute force) sacrificed one or two generations and the results are in front of us, but we in Pakistan want a free ride, hide behind religion when it is convenient and give all kind of justification. We as a nation must step up to plate and get serious with this many other issues. This is the collective responsibility of the present generation and generation after...Wonder why all issues like this are raised now? Looks like last government/s were either sleeping on the job or laundering money and busy buying properties overseas.
But great going PM and wish you success in every endeavor you embark on.
@Gin, simultaneous tasks can certainly happen. Sarcasm is the worst of wits. this is the problem with south asians. we sit and talk and make fun of everything. We are not people of action. Let these guys, who are actually trying to start something positive, work please.
@khanm, China is 12 times bigger than Pakistan. Its population is 5-6 times. So Pakistan is twice as densely populated. Pakistan does not have the vast resources that China has.
Parents should nourish their off springs to be successful citizens and problem solved. Know your ability and have only that you can fulfill. Don't be looking at your sons income for your golden age, start leaving legacy behind.
@Gin, initiating both. Never heard multitasking. Bother dam construction and population control is important for the future of the welfare.
@Markhor , more
It is absolutely important for Pakistan to bring population growth rate under control Learn from China: how they did it. India inspite of great success in technology has failed to address this problem and while only 1/3rd in size of China has more people while 60 years ago China had almost twice the size of India's population. Pakistan has about doubled the size of its population. More people need more land for housing and more food to feed them... Don't invite great disaster, and bring it under control No more than two children for the next 50 years per family...tie the knot after the second child. Some will not make it and thus reduce the rate of increase in population.
To control population we need to change mentality, thinking and culture and educate women in particular. The main reason of population growth is that people want boys who could grow and earn for them.
@Zia Uddin, You have a fine name and a great idea. I endorse your recommendation/
The most difficult proposal for people in Pakistan where having a big family is considered as a blessing not curse. Education with awareness are the only hope. The religious sector will have to be involved in a major educational effort. Just talking in a forum will not solve the problem. A great challenge for PTI government considering that it does not have a clear mandate to pass bills in Assembly halls and has to depend on unpredictable politically motivated opposition to come on board with this proposal plan and and an action plan.
@Suhail, Suhail bhai, it is the choice of words that makes a huge difference i.e. replacing "rats" with "rabbits" probably will be more tolerable and enduring!!!
'"There is a big role for the ulema," he said, citing examples of Iran and Bangladesh where population control campaigns were done from mosques. The premier said Pakistan too needed to involve its mosques in the campaign.'
But is anyone listening ?
Population growth is our single biggest problem in Pakistan, primarily responsible for more than 70% of all our other major issues.
@ARK, "Give tax breaks to families with two children or less. Population control will happen. Nothing works better than financial incentive."
Only 1 million people file taxes, and those are the educated and affluent people who anyway do not have many children. So who exactly will benefit from tax breaks?
can somebody please stop orya maqbool from regurgitating nonsense on population issue
@khanm, perhaps you didn’t hear about three decade old one child policy of China. That has worked “too well” and they scrapped it recently. Nevertheless China would not have made the stride without curtailing population growth
Good topic and nice of cjp and pm to have taken the lead in getting some focus on it.
China adopted one child policy but gave it up in 30 years because it now lacks youth. So, be careful with this suggestion. Look at the opportunities higher population growth presents and make long term policies that exploit those opportunities.
@ARK, So many Pakistanis are tax evaders, that tax breaks might not be effective
I wish leadership in India will also talk about this matter. India is heading for a population boom. There are going to be more poor in future and less rich and that results in civil wars. Population control should be implemented in every country. If you have less population, then you have more jobs and resources available in your country. Kudos to CJP and I hope our leadership will also start addressing this matter.
@Gin,
Both are serious concerns. Success does not means that that they are need of hour or not. They are necessary for our survival.
The worst part of over population is disruption of social fabric. In families with five or more children less resources there are frequent fights as compared to fever children. This example is extended to countries. Most of the law and order, degradation of environment, malnutrition and unemployment etc are result of over population. In Pakistan so long our resources to feed and provide good employment there were fewer sectarian and ethnic strife. In most of the western countries where population is under control, standard of living is high so much so that people from third world countries find there good living. In these countries also when job can not be easily provided to locals bitterness with out sliders take place. Control of population is more important than Dams construction. Population should have been controlled long back, dooms day is not far.
Unless we give top priority to measures necessary for family planning including carrot and stick methods, population can not be controlled. Contraceptive programs should accompany incentive for small families. Government should guarantee admission of two children to good schools and colleges and pay for fees etc and after completing education guarantee jobs to them. However it should be made clear to the parents that if number of children increase more than two, this facility will be immediately withdrawn. It is possible with the help of NADRA. Harsh measures like China perhaps can not be carried out in Pakistan democratic set up.
CJP should question Zardari & Nawaz Sharif first instead of PM Khan. The best way to resolve water crisis is by linking the rivers which is less costlier than building dams. The next best alternative is to dig more canals & route the water to dry lands..Rain water harvesting & other innovative methods need to be adopted by the farmers & public. For every small thing you cannot hold the Govt responsible, even the Public, Society should play it's role. .
This governement insted of focusing on turning the country around want to work on fighting with nature and going to recieve lot of money in donation and nothing is going to change. CJP and governement need to focus on solving the problems to uplift the socio-ecnomic condition by initiating and working on projects which will make country prosperous, give people self confidence. This PTI elities are dependent on same establishment, and set up developed and implemented by PPP and PML and these people know how to keep country on knees. So good luck PTI as all the intiatives they talking about are worthless and will add more misrey to common person. The other funny project they want to build homes rather building industry so people can generate wealth and build their own life.
Follow China model only 2 child per family for at least next 10 years.
Population control is must for pakistan no nation on planet can prosper without proper family planning and good education
It will be automatically adjusted and controlled according to Malthus. Atleast his conceptual model working in some countries of the World.
Interesting comments about population growth... if the population is the problem then why America which has twice the population of Pakistan is a well-off country... if population growth is the problem there are lots of countries in Africa, full of resources and are less populated than Pakistan should have been well off.. it is all about GDP... finding the resources, generating the income, the potential of the world we inherit is very vast beyond human imagination, if we lack vision, if we lack honesty, if we lack leadership, if we are corrupt to the core, don't blame the population for it, folks..The human world lives in a framework called global economics. We live in a system based on GDP, which drives consumption. it causes people to compete with each other through trade in a way that they all grow. but if we monopolize our agriculture land by having a feudalistic system, if we monopolize the business, if we don't create the level playing field.. please blame it to yourself and not the population...
It is a positive sign that people in Pakistan are talking about the right issues. The combination of explosive population growth and illiteracy are the biggest impendiments to economic and cultural growth.
@Odd views, Just because Pakistan has a wonderful man as Chief Justice, does not mean he should be asked to handle such issues. This is for the Govt. to decide.
@Maria enteparia onnuchoriu, except if no schools, healthcare, or homes. get real.
@AW, theives cared about carrying loot out.
@Maboob Saleem, the private sector has myopic thinking, like the rest of us. very few leaders exist, they helped found LUMS, hospitals, and free schools. a private-public partnership is needed with talented people, not sons of politicians.
no single person can solve this problem. a national effort is needed.
Comments (99) Closed
Construction of Dams are Over, Next Task stop the population growth ;;
Family planning ha failed in Pakistan. Now, "Bachay dou he achay" should be experimented with strict penalties for not complying.
Please arrange a similar awareness campaign for courts to decide cases urgently.
Good initiative and I fully endorse the importance of population growth that influence our resources, capabilities and exceed demands relating to education, health care, energy and providing basic necessities to our citizens. For learned readers information, according to UN's statistics the average annual world pollution rate is about 1.1% and our growth rate is more than double. We have to take appropriate measures to control our population rate, otherwise, we will run out of our resources fairly quickly and poverty will increase beyond control.
Pakistan's most serious problem is population growth. Every man likes to retire after having four sons to feed him the rest of his life. There must be compulsory sterilization after having two children. The retirement age should be 65 years old. Social Security type benefits be introduced in Pakistan, in which each person must contribute during the life time of work.
A growing population can generate economic growth. The birth of more people equates to a greater number of parents investing in their youth. Increased purchases in products such as food, clothing, education-related expenses, sporting goods and toys feed the economy.
Population growth is a myth.. if the population is the real problem China should be the poorest country... it is all about human development.. if we become a nation where our leaders hold their personal growth more the human development this is what happens...technologically speaking ..where are we...A successful society or a country is characterized by a rising living standard for its population, increasing investment in factories and basic infrastructure, and the generation of additional surplus, which is invested in generating new discoveries in science and technology. unfortunately neither we ever have the surplus cos it was stashed in elsewhere nor we ever had the infrastructure or any scientific developments...The irony is we talk about a population while we are already been born...
Population growth is not a real issue. The real issue is corruption which is the mother of all evils. China stopped corruption in their country and they are a super power in rhe world despite having the biggest population in the world.
We have natural resources i.e. gas and oil eruptions in KP and Baluchistan. The government needs to aducate youth and get the most out of them.
A good initiative. Will require long-term commitment both political & financial. Awareness & Education of common people is a must.
@Odd views, well said, this is his basic responsibility where he has utterly failed.
No need to waste money, improve your facilities and forget about population growth, it's good in terms of growth and foreign investments.
@khanm, Sir China was poorest country till they didnt adopted one child policy. if population is low you have lower people to feed and serve and fewer people share national resources. just see around most of the lower populated countries part of developed world while highly populated countries are either poor or still developing including your favorite China and unfavorite India.
@Gin, "Construction of Dams are Over, Next Task stop the population growth".
You maybe capable of doing just one thing at a time, but governments are capable of multitasking.
So don't you worry!
CJ should order pop tax if more than one child family must pay tax which goes into dam fund
@Markhor , "A growing population can generate economic growth."
This at the cost of better standard-living. You need to manager available resource to provide better water, education, home, health facilities.
We need 7%GDP growth to maintain our life style with respect to current population growth rate.
Unless there are harsh rules like China, population growth cannot be controlled. Or the society should be developed enough to consider having more children is disastrous. Unless either of these happens population growth will continue at high rates.
There is chaos everywhere.
Growth in population declined but no one highlighted
Population is a blessing, the more people, bigger the economy.
when their is just in society, every thing gets regulated automatically.
Most sensible move by CJP
If there is one thing to learn from China then it is how to control population. We must leverage the experience of friendly nation and implement.
@khanm, china imposed 1 child policy on government employees, others had more than.1 child, but faced difficulties with residency permits, health care, and education. hence, the controlled their population to what it is today.
Give tax breaks to families with two children or less. Population control will happen. Nothing works better than financial incentive.
Child tax is in order.
The most important is education, especially for women, which basically changes the way people think.
Unfortunately poor families make more children, due to lack of education.
One of the major problems of Pakistan. More uneducated( uneducated = misguided ) humans like creatures roaming the streets. Educate them with knowledge. Judiciary doing the job of planning ministry, who will do judicial tasks? Pakistan's other major issue is judicial system. Top guy should first make it effective and efficient first rather than complaining. PM has not learnt anything from predecessor. Nawaz kept all ministries to himself and his family and Imran does not have an interior Minister. Why are these guys so afraid? Keep doing your own job and delegate the jobs if you want to be stable and growth oriented. You are as important at this time as others were in theirs.
As CJ kindly provide quick justice.That is your JOB . Dams, hospitals, education , population there are others to care for.
@Markhor , This is called short term myopic thinking. Their is a limit of a land to support certain number of people and resources are scarce. You cannot keep multiplying like rats and expect that the land will not be run down and that resources are going to be unlimited.
@khanm, well said
Control of population has to be thru education and incentives compulsion will never work.
@Patriotic 786, The penalties should apply to all citizens not just the poor.
Increase in population also affects the job market. So yes, population is the cause of many issues. But I must admit, I haven't herd a word on population control in a very long time.
@Zia Uddin, Good thinking that needs to be implemented.
@khanm, .... Population growth in Pakistan will wipe out every economic gain Pakistan makes - just as it is doing now.
Great to note the CJP has started to delegate some work at least. Albeit to PMIK himself but nice, At least he is not bent on doing all himself.
@khanm, Population growth is not a myth - there was a reason why China enforced its 1-child policy and even now, that policy can only be circumvented under strict conditions. Unbridled population growth has lead to horrendous strife. Pakistan needs to gets its population growth under control as soon as possible
Please please plesse, give the CJ another term of extension.
@Sanity, ... Population growth is not a real issue? Ask General Bajwa about that. Overpopulation = one thing, and one thing only. It equals unemployment. When there is too much population growth people are unemployed because business and industry can't keep pace.
Overpopulation was the cause of the French Revolution and the Cause of World War I.
Combination of right and wrong leadership to address population growth issues. Than you IK.
@Ayaan, -- -- The problem is there will never be enough investment from the private sector and the government. The money will just not be there. It is time for Pakistan to wake up. The crisis is already here.
Imran Khan is the first Prime Minister who has spoken up about addressing the critical issue of the population growth and has formed a task force on this matter. The PPP and PML-N did not even bother to acknowledge it.
@khanm, you are confusing "population" with "population growth". Population is nit a problem, its uncontrolled growth us problem. With current growth rate do you how many NEW schools, hospitals, colleges, roads, water and food we nedd just to sustain current level of poverty and human development index? Try to calculate it for 5 million additional people every year, you will loose your sleep that night.
@Kamran, .. .. and 14% will be far from enough when the population doubles. and it will double half way to the end of this century.
this will be successful in 2 ways. 1 incentive for those with 2 children or less 2 penalties for those having more than 2.
Finallly . People start focusing on real issue. Continuous progression of Democracy bring lot of change in thinking. Control population our 50% of problems will solve.
Finally the problem is spoken about
Growth is appropriate because life span is shorter in Pakistan.
More than half of Pakistan land is barren, desert or mountains. This population growth will create huge internal conflicts and strife. Learn from China 1 child and India 2 child policy. Parents can better educate and better bring up 1 child. More children was a thing of past to insure family against disease, wars etc and provide more farm labour. Today wars are no longer fought with swords or spears, farms have tractors, wells have pumps, there are medicines for malaria and typhoid. It is the age of technology power and no longer the age of manpower.
Population growth has a direct effect on GDP per head as increase in resources can never catch up with the rate at which our population is growing.
UK population, 56 million in 1990 has jumped to just 65 million in 2018 During the same period Pak population has swelled from from 90 million to 220 million
It is easy to see where the problem lies in developing countries apart from scarcity of resources
Is CJP hinting by mentioning IK that man should not marry multiple times and stop having multiple wives. This will reduce population growth.
Population can only grow as fast as food supply
@Awalmir, “Chaos”
Yeah! Why not bring more people into the world? The is what the majority thinks. Speaks volumes for the education system, doesn’t it?
@Markhor , are you for real? How is it better to have more children if you haven’t got the means to feed and educate them?
@khanm, you are forgetting China had a one child policy for years and even now the maximum is only two!
@Maria enteparia onnuchoriu,
The more people, the lower the quality of life! Surprised that you don’t know that. You usually make intelligent comments.
@ARK,
You’re assuming they pay taxes in the first place.
@Swiss Neutral,
“Lack of education” results in over population, which then again results in lack of education. It’s a vicious cycle that must be interrupted, if Pakistan is to survive.
Unless this out of control population groth is borught under control, there will be chaos in the Pakistani cities in about twenty years from now. Pakistan would probably become an open territory.
The country is heading towards chaos unless we control the population.
We need to create a system that helps completely stop the corruption from the society.
Population increases is unavoidable. It’s a benefit as long as we educate children. I have 17 children from my wives and I look after them all very well and all are educated.
@Maria enteparia onnuchoriu, Yeah, The world knows where is India today with respect to China in any index. China disciplined its population ( albeit with brute force) sacrificed one or two generations and the results are in front of us, but we in Pakistan want a free ride, hide behind religion when it is convenient and give all kind of justification. We as a nation must step up to plate and get serious with this many other issues. This is the collective responsibility of the present generation and generation after...Wonder why all issues like this are raised now? Looks like last government/s were either sleeping on the job or laundering money and busy buying properties overseas.
But great going PM and wish you success in every endeavor you embark on.
@Gin, simultaneous tasks can certainly happen. Sarcasm is the worst of wits. this is the problem with south asians. we sit and talk and make fun of everything. We are not people of action. Let these guys, who are actually trying to start something positive, work please.
@khanm, China is 12 times bigger than Pakistan. Its population is 5-6 times. So Pakistan is twice as densely populated. Pakistan does not have the vast resources that China has.
Parents should nourish their off springs to be successful citizens and problem solved. Know your ability and have only that you can fulfill. Don't be looking at your sons income for your golden age, start leaving legacy behind.
@Gin, initiating both. Never heard multitasking. Bother dam construction and population control is important for the future of the welfare.
@Markhor , more
It is absolutely important for Pakistan to bring population growth rate under control Learn from China: how they did it. India inspite of great success in technology has failed to address this problem and while only 1/3rd in size of China has more people while 60 years ago China had almost twice the size of India's population. Pakistan has about doubled the size of its population. More people need more land for housing and more food to feed them... Don't invite great disaster, and bring it under control No more than two children for the next 50 years per family...tie the knot after the second child. Some will not make it and thus reduce the rate of increase in population.
To control population we need to change mentality, thinking and culture and educate women in particular. The main reason of population growth is that people want boys who could grow and earn for them.
@Zia Uddin, You have a fine name and a great idea. I endorse your recommendation/
The most difficult proposal for people in Pakistan where having a big family is considered as a blessing not curse. Education with awareness are the only hope. The religious sector will have to be involved in a major educational effort. Just talking in a forum will not solve the problem. A great challenge for PTI government considering that it does not have a clear mandate to pass bills in Assembly halls and has to depend on unpredictable politically motivated opposition to come on board with this proposal plan and and an action plan.
@Suhail, Suhail bhai, it is the choice of words that makes a huge difference i.e. replacing "rats" with "rabbits" probably will be more tolerable and enduring!!!
'"There is a big role for the ulema," he said, citing examples of Iran and Bangladesh where population control campaigns were done from mosques. The premier said Pakistan too needed to involve its mosques in the campaign.'
But is anyone listening ?
Population growth is our single biggest problem in Pakistan, primarily responsible for more than 70% of all our other major issues.
@ARK, "Give tax breaks to families with two children or less. Population control will happen. Nothing works better than financial incentive."
Only 1 million people file taxes, and those are the educated and affluent people who anyway do not have many children. So who exactly will benefit from tax breaks?
can somebody please stop orya maqbool from regurgitating nonsense on population issue
@khanm, perhaps you didn’t hear about three decade old one child policy of China. That has worked “too well” and they scrapped it recently. Nevertheless China would not have made the stride without curtailing population growth
Good topic and nice of cjp and pm to have taken the lead in getting some focus on it.
China adopted one child policy but gave it up in 30 years because it now lacks youth. So, be careful with this suggestion. Look at the opportunities higher population growth presents and make long term policies that exploit those opportunities.
@ARK, So many Pakistanis are tax evaders, that tax breaks might not be effective
I wish leadership in India will also talk about this matter. India is heading for a population boom. There are going to be more poor in future and less rich and that results in civil wars. Population control should be implemented in every country. If you have less population, then you have more jobs and resources available in your country. Kudos to CJP and I hope our leadership will also start addressing this matter.
@Gin,
Both are serious concerns. Success does not means that that they are need of hour or not. They are necessary for our survival.
The worst part of over population is disruption of social fabric. In families with five or more children less resources there are frequent fights as compared to fever children. This example is extended to countries. Most of the law and order, degradation of environment, malnutrition and unemployment etc are result of over population. In Pakistan so long our resources to feed and provide good employment there were fewer sectarian and ethnic strife. In most of the western countries where population is under control, standard of living is high so much so that people from third world countries find there good living. In these countries also when job can not be easily provided to locals bitterness with out sliders take place. Control of population is more important than Dams construction. Population should have been controlled long back, dooms day is not far.
Unless we give top priority to measures necessary for family planning including carrot and stick methods, population can not be controlled. Contraceptive programs should accompany incentive for small families. Government should guarantee admission of two children to good schools and colleges and pay for fees etc and after completing education guarantee jobs to them. However it should be made clear to the parents that if number of children increase more than two, this facility will be immediately withdrawn. It is possible with the help of NADRA. Harsh measures like China perhaps can not be carried out in Pakistan democratic set up.
CJP should question Zardari & Nawaz Sharif first instead of PM Khan. The best way to resolve water crisis is by linking the rivers which is less costlier than building dams. The next best alternative is to dig more canals & route the water to dry lands..Rain water harvesting & other innovative methods need to be adopted by the farmers & public. For every small thing you cannot hold the Govt responsible, even the Public, Society should play it's role. .
This governement insted of focusing on turning the country around want to work on fighting with nature and going to recieve lot of money in donation and nothing is going to change. CJP and governement need to focus on solving the problems to uplift the socio-ecnomic condition by initiating and working on projects which will make country prosperous, give people self confidence. This PTI elities are dependent on same establishment, and set up developed and implemented by PPP and PML and these people know how to keep country on knees. So good luck PTI as all the intiatives they talking about are worthless and will add more misrey to common person. The other funny project they want to build homes rather building industry so people can generate wealth and build their own life.
Follow China model only 2 child per family for at least next 10 years.
Population control is must for pakistan no nation on planet can prosper without proper family planning and good education
It will be automatically adjusted and controlled according to Malthus. Atleast his conceptual model working in some countries of the World.
Interesting comments about population growth... if the population is the problem then why America which has twice the population of Pakistan is a well-off country... if population growth is the problem there are lots of countries in Africa, full of resources and are less populated than Pakistan should have been well off.. it is all about GDP... finding the resources, generating the income, the potential of the world we inherit is very vast beyond human imagination, if we lack vision, if we lack honesty, if we lack leadership, if we are corrupt to the core, don't blame the population for it, folks..The human world lives in a framework called global economics. We live in a system based on GDP, which drives consumption. it causes people to compete with each other through trade in a way that they all grow. but if we monopolize our agriculture land by having a feudalistic system, if we monopolize the business, if we don't create the level playing field.. please blame it to yourself and not the population...
It is a positive sign that people in Pakistan are talking about the right issues. The combination of explosive population growth and illiteracy are the biggest impendiments to economic and cultural growth.
@Odd views, Just because Pakistan has a wonderful man as Chief Justice, does not mean he should be asked to handle such issues. This is for the Govt. to decide.
@Maria enteparia onnuchoriu, except if no schools, healthcare, or homes. get real.
@AW, theives cared about carrying loot out.
@Maboob Saleem, the private sector has myopic thinking, like the rest of us. very few leaders exist, they helped found LUMS, hospitals, and free schools. a private-public partnership is needed with talented people, not sons of politicians.
no single person can solve this problem. a national effort is needed.