Clerics urged to spread family planning message

RAWALPINDI: In a bid to curb the population explosion in Rawalpindi, where the population grew from 3.36 million in 1999 to 5.4 million in the 2016 census, the district administration has decided to enlist the help of clerics in curbing the growth rate in the district.

With the slogan, ‘few children, prosperous household’, a population welfare programme has been initiated.

Population welfare officials have requested clerics to raise awareness about the dangers of large populations and the importance of family planning in their Friday sermons. Moreover, clerics have been told to give mosques the status of community centres so that people can seek counsel on social and economic issues apart from religious issues.



Addressing a seminar organised at the district office of the Population Welfare Department, speakers said that controlling the population has become imperative.

Population Welfare District Officer Shireen Sukhan said that clerics must help the government make their population welfare programme reach every household and that clerics must use their sermons to inform the people about the dangers of a rapidly increasing population.

Sukhan added large population exhausted resources.

Rawalpindi Divisional Khateeb Hafiz Iqbal Rizvi requested mosque prayer leaders to also teach locals to plan their family as per their available resources and ensured that to control the population clerics will perform their role effectively.

The seminar was attended by the Rawalpindi Population Welfare Centre Tehsil Officer Rana Azhar, DDO Saima Rashid, BBH WMORH Centre Dr Asma, Jamia Masjid Gul Siraj Khateeb Maulana Afzal, Phoolon Wali Masjid Khateeb Maulana Masood, Krishanpura Jamia Mosque Khateeb Maulana Bashir, Ganjmandi Jamia Mosque Khateeb Maulana Kamran Satti, Hanfiya Jamia Mosque Khateeb Maulana Mujeebur Rehman, Tahlian Jamia Mosque Khateeb  Shahan and other clerics were present in large numbers. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2019.