ISLAMABAD, Feb 23: The federal ministry of population welfare will construct a 'population house' in Secretariat area, said the population welfare minister, Chaudhry Shehbaz Hussain.

Speaking at a press conference, at the place which falls in F-Block where the population house will be built, the minister said it would be equipped according to international standards.

"The building would be constructed according to the needs of 21st century and well-equipped offices, media centre, training centre, library and auditorium would be part of the new building", the minister said.

The minister informed the media persons that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would lay the foundation stone of the population house in the second week of March. For this purpose, the population welfare ministry had acquired a tract of 2357 square yards back in 1985, however, due to lack of interest shown by the successive governments, the project could not be materialized.

The minister added that at present the ministry was paying more than Rs5 to 6 million per annum as rent, and on the other hand, the ministry's offices were scattered all around the city in various buildings. This is not only an extra burden on the ministry's financial resources but also hampers its smooth functioning, it said.

Talking about the ministry's various initiatives, the minister said: "We have improved our rural reproductive health centres, increased the number of male health visitors and achieved some of the targets, which the prime minister has given to the ministry".

The minister said the efforts for happy and prosperous families for all would continue and would definitely yield result if the political commitment to the cause remained the same.

When asked about the proposed ulema conference which the ministry has planned, the minister said, the conference would be organized in April 2005. During the conference, invited ulemas would be given crash courses to highlight the importance of family planning, reproductive health rights etc, and will also be provided honorarium for spreading the ministry's message across the board.