Govt seeks religious scholars’ help on family planning awareness

Nikkah khwans will deliver lectures on importance of family planning at weddings

RAWALPINDI: People will be made aware about Islamic teachings relating to birth spacing during a drive planned by Rawalpindi district administration in collaboration with health and population welfare departments.

Government will take religious scholars on board in the drive to enlighten the people about birth control through Islamic perspective.

This was decided in the meeting of Population Welfare Co-ordination Committee headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Headquarters Saima Younis, in which other officers of the related department also participated.

The meeting concluded that nikkah khwans would deliver lectures on importance of family planning to the couple at the time of the nikkah, while the topic would also be discussed in Friday sermons.

The meeting particularly discussed measures to control the dispersion of the population in order to maintain a balance in resources and expenditures.

The meeting directed that all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) associated with population welfare department should take pre-approval of their activities while a daily report of routine activities must also be submitted to the department in order to enhance monitoring system.

Population Welfare District Officer Sherieen Sukhan talked about ongoing nutrition and welfare programmes in the district. She said that some 144 mobiles camps were setup last month which provided awareness and information regarding health, cleanliness and family planning.

The officer said that they were also in contact with clerics so as to clear religious and societal doubts from the public’s mind regarding family planning.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2019.