LAHORE, March 24: The legitimacy crisis being faced by President Gen Pervez Musharraf (retired) served as a setback to the working of non-government organisations (NGOs) because their activities were restricted.

Sajjad Nasir, who is former chairman of the Punjab University’s Political Science Department, stated this while speaking at a moot titled ‘Role of civil society in population stabilisation and development’ organised by the National Trust for Population Welfare (NATPOW) here on Monday.

Prof Naseer said the family planning related policies had not been fully implemented by various governments because they bowed under the pressure of ‘conservative’ forces, which had dubbed family planning as a sacrilegious act.

He said there was an urgent need to categorically establish a benchmark, which should help government and other NGOs work for stabilisation of population.

He feared that population of Pakistan could double in the coming two decades if remained unchecked.

He stressed forming policies for equitable distribution of economic resources in the country so that equal opportunities for prosperity and development could be provided to everyone.

He emphasised on coordination between private and public sectors so that all objectives of family planning could be achieved in near future.

Dr Ayesha, a deputy secretary at the Punjab Social Welfare Development Department, said that the Punjab government had started many projects for safety of mothers across the province.

She said outcome of these projects was not definite in the short term but, she hoped, there would be a significant positive development over the issue of safety of motherhood in the long term.

Syed Irshad Husain, who is chief executive of NATPOW, said that the trust was working for the improvement of reproductive health status of men, women and children through greater involvement of NGOs and private sector with emphasis on service delivery, capacity building,technical support, human resource development, family education and community participation.

He said NATPOW had been creating an effective partnership with the government, donors and private sector organisations for effective participation in the implementation of the national policy on population and development.

Punjab Social Welfare Department Secretary Syed Muhammad Hamid, Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP) President Surraya Jabben and Message President Dr Akhtar Ali also spoke on the occasion.