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PESHAWAR, July 13: Speakers at a one-day consultation seminar on World Population Day on Wednesday urged upon government, social sector organisations and people from every walk of life to join hands to counter population explosion. The seminar, arranged by National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), was attended by executive district officers, representatives of social sector organisations, religious scholars and volunteers.
Speaking on the occasion, EDO Schools and Literacy, Mohammad Rafiq Khan said that population was main reason of decline in quality services by government as well as social sector organisations. He said unless the country overcame population explosion, it could not record any remarkable development.
District Officer Social Welfare Shah Zaman said that population explosion put an additional pressure on the already available infrastructure and basic facilities including schools, hospitals, etc of the country.
Demographic Officer Sadiq-ur-Rehman said that the population growth rate in Pakistan was 1.9 percent, one of the highest in the region. He said population growth rate in Iran, Bangladesh, India, China and Sri Lanka was well below it.
He was of the view that the concrete steps recently taken by the government had enabled them to reduce growth rate from 3.1 percent to 1.9 percent. The present population of the country was 145 Million while it would reach 220 million by 2020, he added.
Professor Waqar-ul-Mulk said it was need of the hour to mainly focus on raising awareness among masses about adverse effects of population growth.
District Program Officer of NCHD Asghar Ali Khan said that NCHD was striving hard to educate masses on adverse effects of the population explosion. He said that NCHD would support community in raising awareness against various social issues ranging from illiteracy to population increase.
AGREEMENT SIGNED: The National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and Rehabilitation Centre for Physically Disabled (RCPD)on Wednesday signed an agreement for betterment of the special children across the NWFP.
Brigadier (rtd) Muhammad Aslam Khan, Director Special Projects of the NCHD and Mr Ghulam Qadir, President the RCPD singed the agreement.
According to the agreement, the NCHD will extend support the RCPD in financial and technical aspects in teachers training. The NCHD will also support them in establishing links with various organisations to further enhance their abilities.
Speaking on the occasion, Brigadier Aslam said that it was the mandate of the NCHD to support schools imparting special education. Special children were neglected part of the society and the NCHD had decided to enable them to live a useful life, he added.
He appreciated efforts of the RCPD and said that RCPD was rendering tremendous services to special children. He said the NCHD would also support RCPD in future to carry out such like activities for special children.
