Unchecked population

It is also pertinent to note that family planning in Pakistan’s conservative society is still considered taboo

Pakistan’s growing population is one of the serious challenges the country faces today. Though established in the recent census that the population is over 200 million in the country, these numbers are highly underreported.

This unchecked rapid increase in the country’s population acts as a threat to some of government’s plans to put the country on a path of progression such as plans to achieve self-reliance in different fields. Thus the decision of the federal and provincial governments to form task forces within their jurisdictions to control the population growth is a welcome move.

In a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan, it was decided that the population growth would be reduced to 1.5 per cent per annum from the current 2.4 per cent. These task forces will consider the recommendations made by previous task forces constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court. These recommendations include pre-marital counselling on family planning for Nikah registration, introduction of Early Child Marriage Restraint Act by federal and provincial governments and an increase in Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR).

While these recommendations are important, it perhaps seems like efforts for controlling the population in the country has been limited to setting up task forces. Currently there is lack of on-ground actions. It is also pertinent to note that family planning in Pakistan’s conservative society is still considered a taboo not just in the country’s rural areas but in urban as well. More than 20 per cent of Pakistanis now live in just 10 major cities. Hence, while a recommendation to increase CPR may work on paper it would be difficult to achieve it on ground without including all stakeholders, such as an active involvement of clerics and women to advocate for family planning.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2018.

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