SINCE Z.A. Bhutto’s time no politician has raised a voice, offered incentives and put out bold warnings against population explosion. When Pakistan was formed, West Pakistan’s population was 33.5m. Now it is between 190m and 200m. This difference of 20m is almost the size of Sri Lanka’s. Lack of good gender education and a reasonable family income in Pakistan has shot up this growth. If you look up the curve in Pakistan’s top demographic growth, you will notice that Pakistan will peak at 470m. China at 1.5bn and India at 1.7bn.

In other words, now we are one-sixth of India and when we reach the maximum, we will be a quarter of it.

Pakistan is the fastest-growing nation in the world. When we reach our maximum population, we will be the third most populated nation in the world! And Pakistan is the size of Texas. The reason India is growing more slowly is that it is trying to educate most of its people.

This difference leaves them some what more on social sectors.

Navaid Husain

Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2014