KARACHI, April 24: Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar has expressed his deep concern over the increasing rate of population growth in the province and emphasized the need for concerted effort to improve health and education sectors as well as for generating employment opportunities.

Speaking at a gathering at the Population Welfare and Women Development Department here on Thursday, the CM said that a comprehensive strategy to contain population growth was vital. Such a strategy, he added, should focus mainly on public awareness about the implications of large families on socio-economic conditions in the society.

He also underscored the need for concerted efforts to restrict the annual population growth rate to 1.9 per cent and achieve the target by the year 2004. The strategy chalked out for the purpose, he said, should be implemented effectively.

Mr Mahar was of the view that the countries like China and Bangladesh had succeeded in containing population growth rate by introducing and implementing potent programmes and pragmatic approach towards the problem.

Referring to women development projects in the province, he said Sindh was the only province where concrete measures had been taken for the empowerment and upliftment of women.

Inclusion of a woman minister in the provincial cabinet, he said, was aimed at providing necessary support to women folk and also help solve the problems exclusively faced by women without unnecessary delay.

“This is in addition to the measures adopted to place competent women officials at important positions,” he said and added, “Sindh also happens to be a province where a woman has been elected deputy speaker of its assembly.”

The chief minister said that he, as the administrative head of the province, was committed to restore all the rights to the woman folk as guaranteed under Islamic principles. Women themselves, he added, needed to be sensitized about their rights as well as obligations. In order to ensure their economic independence, they should be involved in essential training programmes, he opined.

Mr Mahar underscored the need for the setting up of legal advisory committees to enable women to seek necessary legal support whenever needed. He assured every assistance to get the scheme materialized.

The CM also pledged creation of 200 posts for village-based female workers in the Population Welfare Department.

The Minister for Population Welfare and Women Development, Dr Saida Malik apprised the CM of the department’s problems.

With regard to efforts made to address the issue of rising population growth rate in the province, she said a comprehensive scheme had been implemented while measures were being taken to tackle the issues detrimental to women upliftment and development.

She indicated that seminars and symposiums were being organized at regular intervals across the province to raise awareness in women.

Chief Secretary K. B. Rind said that women should be involved directly in population control programmes along with men. Underscoring need to make people realize repercussion of unchecked population growth, he said media should play a practical role in public awareness and education programmes.

Secretary Population Welfare, Mushtaq Ali Memon informed the meeting that Sindh’s population was restricted to 6.054 million in 1951 but rose to 33.7 million by the year 2002.

He mentioned that the 1998 population census estimated the province’s population at 30.440 million — 14.840 million in urban areas and 15.600 million in rural areas — with an average 194 births per day.

Mr Memon said that under the five year programme (1998-2003), population growth would be reduced from 2.6 per cent to 1.9 per cent whereas in the year 2003, contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) would have to be raised from 26.8 per cent to 42.5 per cent.

He mentioned that 28 reproductive health centres were functioning in the province along with 34 mobile service units and 372 family welfare centres.

About women development programmes, he said that at a cost of Rs3.435 million, training programmes and workshops were being arranged for women in 21 different districts of the province.

The secretary said that an amount of Rs2 million had been earmarked to establish training centres for rural women who, on the basis of modern technology, would be taught home-based skills. He said that these centres would be established in Karachi (Malir), Hyderabad, Sukkur, Badin, Mithi, Thatta, Nawabshah and Ghotki.

He said that cottage industry centres had also been planned and would be established on pilot project basis at Badin and Thatta.

Opening of sales and display centres at district level is also in the process with an aim of promoting handicrafts made by women and industrial products manufactured at the units run by women entrepreneurs.

Apart from efforts to improve employment opportunities for women, day care centres and child welfare centres are being established across the province, he said.

Mr Memon said that the establishment of new working women hostels in Karachi and Hyderabad, besides provision for micro-credit through banks, was also among the schemes to be launched by the government.—APP