Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani Monday called for maintaining a balance between population growth and the resources equitably and prudently as high population growth rate was undermining the economic progress in the country.
He expressed these views while addressing the gathering held to mark the World Population Day where he also highlighted the need of taking steps to check the population growth to ensure availability of goods and services to the people.
Gilani said Pakistan was the sixth most populous country in the world with the highest population growth rate of 2.03 percent among the SAARC countries, resulting in annual addition of 3.6 million people. He said the population was projected to reach 210.13 million by the year 2020 and would be doubled in next 34 years.
According to the first census in 1951, the population of the four western provinces of the country was recorded at 33.7 million while climbed to 132 million in 1998, reflecting a quadruple increase in the size of population during the period.
He said the current rate of population growth left insufficient margin to maintain consumption levels, increase savings and attract investments, necessary to sustain increase in output while the socio-economic gains already accomplished were largely diluted by the trend.
He warned if the population continued growing a rate faster than that of economic development, the country would never be able to meet people’s needs for economic and social services, making everyone, especially the poorest, to suffer.
“Arresting the population growth rate will, therefore, serve the twin objectives of increasing the nation’s capacity to save and invest and simultaneously improve the per capita availability of goods and social services,” he said.
Gilani said fewer children and better-spaced families were a key to good health, adding that the birth spacing services would be provided throughout the country at all levels of health facilities free of cost or on nominal charges.
Gilani said the country had the potential for another turnaround by giving the young girls and women a chance of realising their full potential.
He called for using national resources strategically and thoughtfully to immediately start planning for the current needs of the youthful population and to the emerging needs of the 60 million children who are within the 0-15 year age-group.
The premier vowed to take the debate to the Parliament to discuss a vision about the balance between resources and numbers.
“We do need some national level consensus about our position on population size,” he said and said Pakistan would not like to become the fifth largest nation with large segments of the population falling below the poverty line.
First ever sensible statement in 3.5 years of rule.
Concerning Final Word in politics
Corruption-corruption- corruption.; ruin poor,ruin poor,ruin poor:.be fool people, be fool people ,be fool people with wicked political manipulations of coursed,corrupt,coalition cartel of PPP-Z,MQM,ANP for forty five months and recent ML-Q and idiotic ‘mumafti’ opposition of ‘mutkabar’ Nawaz Sharif .they are all 'zalims and coalition of ‘zalimeens’,enemies of poor ,enemies of Kalabagh,enemies if Islamic ideology, ultra liberal,hedonists,slaves of drones of UK,IMF,USA,UK, which includes bathakhors,target killers, jagirdars,wadweras,bureaucrats–all are ‘ cursed corrupt coalition of ‘zalimeens’ and enemies of poor who should be routed out and thrown to gutters.Besides this the slaves 'zarkharid gulam Karachi-Lahore TV channels,slave ,’ghulam’ wicked TV anchors(ARY,Express,Dunya,Newsone,CNBC,Samma,partly GEO,AAJ have made Pakistan hostage of MQM political treacherous agenda. Ninety percent TV channels are focused on huighlighting MQM wicked agenda and proving it as the best for people though they may kill thousands in target killings and extorts billions in bathakhori,these ‘ghulam’TV channels and TV anchors must prove MQM innocent and project them as saviors—the devils incarnate including PPP-Z,ANP,MLQ and the complacent opposition still in not clear in their final stand..
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