KARACHI:
This is apropos to the letter “Overpopulation menace” published in The Express Tribune earlier this week. Writers regularly express concerns over Pakistan’s burgeoning population, but few offer any solutions to the problem. Therefore, I want to draw attention to effective solutions to tackle the problem.
A population tax should be imposed on those who neglect this important issue. The base year for family planning could be set as 1970 given that many Asian countries adopted Small Family Norms around that time. The main culprits since 1947 have been politicians and their parties. Instead of promoting the adoption of Small Family Norms among the masses, all political parties injected religious fervour among the people resulting in the neglect of family planning. I suggest that all politicians be subject to a penalty of Rs10 million per year and their political parties should pay at least Rs100 million per year for failing to guide the people properly. Affluent families’ disregard for small family norms has led to overpopulation. They should incur a tax of Rs50,000 per child annually. The poor and uneducated should be exempted from this tax.
A strict one-child policy should be enforced. Severe penalties should be implemented for those opting for a second child from 2024 onwards to prevent a deterioration of the situation in Pakistan.
Ravi Kumar Emani
Hyderabad, India
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2023.
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