PESHAWAR, April 19: The NWFP government is committed to working in collaboration with non-governmental organizations to reduce the alarming rate ofpopulation growth in the province.

This was stated by NWFP Additional Chief Secretary Mir Laiq Shah while speaking at a certificate distribution ceremony held under the auspices of the Green star Social Marketing here on Monday. "The overall population growth is 2.6 per cent, while that of the Frontier province it has touched the figure of 2.8 per cent.

"This is a matter of grave concern and we are determined to work jointly with NGOs to bring the population growth rate down," said Mr Shah. The secretary was of the view that the population growth in the country at such a high speed had led to mounting poverty in general and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in particular.

According to statistics, the number of overall population living below poverty line was 32 per cent in the country while in the Frontier province it is 44 per cent. "Our problems are deeply rooted in population growth. There is an urgent need to bring it down so that it could match our resources," he said.

The additional chief secretary urged NGOs to focus their activities in rural areas. The country, he said, had a population of 140 million people and it was very difficult for the government to provide all the people with basic health services.

He conceded that 70 per cent of the population received health care services from the private sector, which was a proof of the credibility of hospitals and clinics being run by the private sector.

He informed the audience that the government had launched extensive projects to bring the much-need improvement in the reproductive health sector, adding that 70,000 Lady Health Workers were being trained to face the challenge posed by the mounting population.

Kamran Mashhadi of the Greenstar on the occasion presented an overview of the activities in the North West Frontier Province and said that the organization was committed to imparting training to doctors and LHWs in order to serve the people.

The organization, he said, had 12,000 trained health workers, who provided family planning products on discounted rates to low-income people. Secretary or Population Welfare Department Ihsanullah Khan and others also spoke on the occasion.