ISLAMABAD (ENNS) The honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan here on Tuesday expressed concern over the rapidly growing population of Pakistan, questioning if the country could afford seven children per family.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, was hearing a suo motu case pertaining to the growing population in the country.
Irked by the government’s lack of policy for population control, CJP Nisar likened the rate at which the country’s population is growing to “a population bomb” and remarked that the country does not have enough resources to sustain the explosion population.
Honourable Justice questioned “Is Pakistan capable of sustaining seven children per family? He observed that there was not enough water and food for the children being born in the country.
He asked the health secretary in attendance how much budget the Punjab government had allocated for health centres in the province.
The deputy health secretary informed the bench that the department receives around Rs1.5 billion annually, in addition to the Rs3.6 billion provided by the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
Surprisingly, the secretary also told the court that the government does not have a monitoring system in place to regulate health centres or document the growth in the country’s population.
Justice Mian Saqib Nisar observed that the ballooning population needed to be controlled on a war footing, and the country needed a unified policy to tackle the population challenge.
“Whatever plans there are to control the burgeoning population exist only on paper” CJP added.
According to the 2017 census provisional results, Pakistan’s population stands at 207.8 million.
According to “United Nations’ World Population Prospects (2017 revision)”, in mid, 2017 the world’s population stood over 7.6 billion and it will grow to 9.8 billion by 2050.
Moreover Pakistan’s population by the time will hit 306.94 million mark, that’s some 33% more individuals than we have right now, states the UN report.
Pakistan is currently the 5th most populated country in the world. Nigeria will overtake Pakistan, Indonesia and US to become the third most populous nation by 2050.
Senior analyst Lala Hassan while talking to ENNS said CJP has very right hit the nail on head as our rulers and other elite was less bothered on growing population and shrinking resources.
He unfortunately poor and heavy population suits feudal, religious leaders and Industrialist for their vested interests; therefore they never took tangible steps on the issue.
