Jamil says we have become a nation that has no interest in date and information
Certain elements in the country have kept on resisting the population census as it was perceived to be a threat to their vested interests. Population census would reveal the true picture about the provincial and locality wise population; hence, it would also affect the redistribution of national resources through National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. Dr Tahir Jamil, a renowned academician said this during a lecture on ‘Demographic transition in Pakistan: challenges and opportunities’, held by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Monday.
Dr Jamil said that unfortunately, we have become a nation that has a total disregard to data and information. Hence, we have failed to develop and design policies according to the needs of the different segments of society.
“We have lost a huge opportunity that our youth have been offering since last 20 years”, Jamil said and added that if we still fail to make proper policies and capitalise on them in future, we would lose the chance for another twenty years.
He suggested that quality education and data based planning were the only way forward to remain relevant in this competitive world. With the help of detailed presentation, Dr Jamil said that the economic growth could be found as a function of demographic transition as it determines the basis of the maximum use of the population potential.
He explained that the demographic dividend is not itself an economic benefit but provides an opportunity to reap the economic benefits. To materialise such a demographic shift into economic benefit, well thought economic planning is needed to boost the public health education and provide them with a suitable environment to increase their output, he added.
Dr Jamil said that Pakistan’s economic development, health condition and education were not up to the mark as imbalanced population growth is affecting country’s social and economic input over the distant past. He suggested that the fundamental challenge for a political government was to stabilise the level of population in order to the increase the productivity.
Shahid Minhas of SDPI, earlier, highlighted the importance of demographics and said that due to non-availability of information on population, the developmental initiatives including in health and education sector have been failed to produce the desired results.