National summit: ‘Population, economy to get equal priority’
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal addressing during Population Summit 2015. PHOTO: APP
The government on Friday said it would accord equal priority to population issues as it does to economic matters even as a national summit on population concluded without any concrete outcome.
“Population is a cross-cutting issue; therefore, from now on it will be given equal priority to the country’s economic issues,” said Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal.
The government-sponsored Population Summit 2015 was supposed to evolve a consensus between the government officials, political and religious leadership, along with other stakeholders on arresting unbridled population growth.
However, the two-day summit ended on Friday meekly without charting a way forward.
Iqbal admitted that Pakistan’s had been slow in improving social indicators such as reducing child malnutrition, maternal mortality, increasing contraceptive use and better health facilities.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2015.