Need for a better strategy

The UN's Population Division has disturbing news on the demographic front. It has revised its estimates for the global population in the year 2050. It is expected that 9.1 billion people will live on the planet earth 45 years hence.

The other worrying factor is that this increase will be preponderantly in the Third World, with the developed countries' population remaining stable at 1.2 billion. The only positive points are that fertility will continue to decline -although not fast enough.

This report has some grave implications. With burgeoning populations, it is evident that the developing countries, which also have fewer resources and the bulk of the illiterate, malnourished, and impoverished people, will not be able to improve the lot of their citizens.

The growing population pressure and increasing poverty will bring greater violence in its wake. It will also give a boost to the increasing urbanization trend in all countries resulting in the emergence of mega cities with poor civic facilities.

The UN's report is a wake-up call for nations, especially for countries like Pakistan which still have the dubious distinction of having very high population growth rates and high fertility rates.

Pakistan's population is growing at the rate of 2.4 per cent per annum (UNDP's figures) and the total fertility rate is 5.3 (the average number of children every woman is expected to have).

These are much higher than the South Asian average of 1.5 per cent and 3.3, respectively. It is plain that the failure of our population programme is at the root of widespread poverty and deprivation.

Unless this issue is tackled seriously, it is unlikely that our policy-makers can actually put the country on the road to progress. The most serious cause of concern is that our leadership has failed to understand this link between population and development.

Only the other day the federal secretary of population welfare said that no legislator has ever raised questions in the National Assembly on the population problem because they are totally ignorant about it.

The federal secretary also said that the government planned to set up independent population commissions at the centre and in the provinces to create awareness of the problem.

This would be a positive move. It is, however, essential that the members of the commissions themselves understand the basic issues. While there are some basic flaws in the strategy adopted, the social environment in favour of the small family norm has not been created either.

Thus the approach to the problem continues to be low profile and a shy one which precludes an open discussion of matters related to sex, contraceptives and the pros and cons of various birth control methods.

This explains why Pakistan has such a large unmet need - that is, people wanting to practise family planning but who cannot do so for the non-availability of contraceptives, guidance and counselling.

The other important factor is the close bearing the status of women and female education has on the population sector. One cannot hope to reduce the fertility rate if women continue to be regarded as inferior beings with parents preferring sons over daughters.

Reducing the gender gap in education will also have a beneficial effect on the population growth. One hopes that the government understands the gravity of the matter and works concertedly on multiple fronts to tackle the problem.

Higher pay for lawmakers

Once again, the parliamentarians of this impoverished nation have received an increase in their salaries. A hefty 15 per cent rise for each of the MNAs, Senators and parliamentary secretaries means a yearly burden of Rs 12 million on the national exchequer.

The government justifies the decision on the ground that the Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) Act, 1974, requires that a pay rise for government employees must be followed by a similar increase in parliamentarians' wages.

While we hold no brief for Pakistan's bureaucracy with its colonial trappings and outlook, the bureaucrats at least do turn up in their offices dutifully each morning, though the quality of the work they do may be open to opinion.

In the case of the MNAs and Senators, the postponement of sessions because of lack of quorum every now and then speaks volumes about their sense of duty as lawmakers.

Sent to parliament as their representatives by the people of the country, they are supposed to do more than make speeches. Speech making is an essential part of the legislative process, but these speeches must reflect good knowledge and understanding of the subject under discussion.

A "graduate" parliament this may be, but one doubts if our MNAs and Senators bother to read or do any homework before they start 'enlightening' the house. That is one reason why parliamentary committees have failed to make themselves felt in our lawmaking process.

Inflation is pinching us all. But any monetary compensation on that score must also be justifiable in terms of performance. From this point of view, the lawmakers would be hard put to justify the extra 15 per cent they will get.

Perhaps they could atone for their lackadaisical approach to duty by being punctual, contributing generously to the president's tsunami fund, and being regular in attending parliamentary and Senate sessions.

Robberies in Islamabad

Highway robberies in various parts of the country are reported all too often. One even took place on the Motorway near Islamabad last year in which passengers of a bus were robbed and sprayed with bullets, killing one man.

But the report on Thursday that eight vehicles were looted within the Islamabad Capital Territory jurisdiction is particularly disturbing. The daring robbery took place on the outskirts of the capital near Kahuta and more than a dozen pistol-wielding men are reported to have been involved.

The road was first blocked before the drivers and passengers of the eight vehicles were robbed at gun point of cash amounting to well over a hundred thousand rupees. The robbers managed to escape before the police arrived at the scene.

This incident adds a new dimension to the recent robberies being committed in the capital territory. It is galling for the victims that these robbers are seldom caught or the loot recovered.

A point to note about Thursday's incident plus a spate of house robberies over the past year on the same outskirts area of Islamabad point to the need for increased police vigilance in these parts of the capital which have more or less been neglected by the administration in every aspect.

These newer non-sectoral zones are part of the Islamabad Capital Territory as much as the older sectoral zones are. They deserve to have the same kind of municipal facilities, as well as similar kind of police vigilance in the form of police patrols that are being provided in the more privileged zones.