AJK premier for end to early marriages

Lawmakers, civil society member address seminar on population control, family planning

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has pledged to extend his support for imposing a ban on early marriages across the region, and suggested consulting the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) to take the religious fraternity on board in this regard.

His remarks came during a seminar on family health and population control organised by the AJK Population Welfare Department in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the health ministry.

The premier underlined population growth as one of the core issues of the country, and resolved to make AJK a region where universal access to family planning for married couples would be made available as part of state’s obligation.

“The AJK government will make all possible efforts to secure better service delivery in reproductive healthcare,” he said. “Only a balanced family size can guarantee a secure future.”

Population welfare minister Dr Mustafa Bashir paid tribute to the AJK premier for his “unwavering support” to the department for the cause of population management.

He highlighted the department’s achievements for improved reproductive healthcare service delivery in the Kashmir valley, and appreciated the role of UNFPA for renewing its activities in AJK.

AJK Population Welfare Department Secretary Raja Muhammad Razzaque, while highlighting the international, national and regional population demographic and social indicators, presented eight core areas under CII approved recommendations with specific focus on proposed legislation for Early Child Marriages Restraint Act.

Citing the examples of Indonesia, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Iran in population control, he underlined that political will could contribute in controlling the growth rate.

While AJK law secretary Irshad Ahmed Qureshi presented the salient features of the proposed legislation for Early Child Marriage Restraint Act in the region, Dr Idrees Abbasi, Secretary to AJK president, supported the proposed legislation.

Besides lawmakers, the seminar was attended by senior government functionaries including the officials related to the legislation process in AJK.

It is worth mentioning that last week, President Arif Alvi chaired the first meeting of federal task force on rapid population growth. It was attended by all four chief ministers, federal ministers and AJK’s minister for population welfare.