LAHORE: President Population Association of Pakistan (PAP) and Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairman Professor Dr Nizamuddin has said on Monday that the country’s population will exceed 390 million by the time it is a hundred years old.
“The population bomb is still ticking in Pakistan as revealed in the recently conducted national census. It has been estimated that the population of Pakistan might exceed from 390 million in 2047, the year when we would be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the country”, he said while talking to the media at Government College University (GCU) Lahore.
“The 2.4 percent growth rate of the population in Pakistan is highly alarming keeping in view the limited resources of the country. There is an urgent need to take drastic emergency measures to limit the staggering growth as this ratio is just 1.5 per cent in other parts of the world”, said Dr Nizamuddin.
“The 2017 population census has brought critical issues having far-reaching implications for the development of Pakistan to the forefront. Unprecedented growth rates, emerging urban poles, youth bulge and a growing elderly population are some of the many challenges that our country faces today”, he observed, while adding that a three-day 18th National Population Research Conference would be held at GCU Lahore under the title of ‘Population Growth and Investing in Human Resource Development’ from December 20.
According to Dr Nizamuddin, Pakistan is one of the largest countries with a ‘youth bulge’ in the population and it is a dilemma that more than 4 million people are unemployed only in Punjab – the largest province of the country.
He further added that Pakistan did not bother to invest much on human resource development as other countries in South Asia did consider it to be a very important subject and therefore the unskilled human labour in Pakistan is the main hindrance in our economic growth. “The result of the recent census that was carried out after two decades reveals that the population of elder people is also increasing rapidly and it is really unfortunate that more than 50 million elder people in Pakistan are without any social security and any forum to express their reservations,” lamented Dr Nizamuddin.
The PHEC chairman said that there must be a study centre to conduct surveys and research on the population growth in every university and urged GCU Vice Chancellor Dr Hassan Amir Shah to take an initiative in this regard.
“We know that our population is estimated to be around 400 million in next 30 years, so we have to start taking concentrated steps on all levels now instead of taking reactive measures later,” said GCU VC Professor Dr Hassan Amir Shah.
He also agreed that population studies should be made a part of the curricula at all levels of education while pledging GCU’s wholehearted support for the 18th National Population Research Conference.
GCU Political Science Department Chairman Professor Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt said that many models for population control such as the Chinese and Malaysian models were available but the political will to implement these models in Pakistan was missing. He said that there are pressure groups which don’t allow the government to introduce radical reforms in order to control the population growth.
Bargad Organization Executive Director Sabiha Shaheen, University of Education VC Professor Dr Rauf-e-Azam and distinguished historian Professor Dr Tahir Kamran were also present on the occasion.
