For years, Pakistan’s soaring population growth has been evident in increasingly crowded roads, malls, schools, hospitals, parks, and communities across the country. No one was serious about understanding the reasons until now. With 250 million people and counting, Pakistan’s population is growing quickly, putting it at the risk of ranking among the four most populous countries in the world. Our population has grown by 57 percent at an annual rate of 2.4 percent since 1998, with the fastest growth rate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (including the erstwhile FATA) and Balochistan. However, growth in Punjab and Sindh has slowed compared to previous results. The female population has increased by about one percent over the past 19 years. The majority of people, 53 percent, still live in Punjab, but its share in the population pie has declined.
Pakistan’s growing population density and unemployment, particularly among young people, negatively impact the quality of life. Housing strain and financial strain lead to poverty, while income inequality worsens due to unequal resource allocation.
Inadequate medical facilities, high illiteracy rates, and overuse of resources in agriculture cause problems. Urbanization and industrial growth lead to pollution, health issues, and a lack of education. Addressing these issues is crucial for a more equitable and sustainable Pakistan.
The scope of NATPOW is limited in the absence of sufficient budgetary allocation, minimal assigned targets, and insignificant organizational structure. Thus, its performance is far below requirement. It is high time that the government, both federal and the provincial, should seriously activate and engage population departments, and adopt official programmes to build public opinion in reducing the birth rate so that the population can fit in well with the evolving pattern of our developing economy
According to UNDP predictions, Pakistan’s population might exceed 403 million by 2050 if the country’s present growth rate is not addressed. Population growth at the rate of 2.4 percent has eroded fruits of higher economic growth for Pakistan. In a ‘capital-poor’ and technologically backward country, rapid growth of population reduces output by lowering the per capita availability of capital and diminishes the availability of capital per head which reduces the productivity of the labour force.
As a result, income is reduced and capacity to savings is diminished which, in turn, adversely affects capital formation. Due to higher population growth rate, investment requirements are beyond its investing capacity in the country. Rapid growth in population increases the requirements of demographic investment which at the same time reduces the capacity of the people to save. This creates a serious imbalance between investment requirements and the availability of investible funds, hence the entire investment is absorbed by demographic investment and nothing is left for economic development.
We need to understand that a fast growth in population means a large number of persons coming to the labour market for whom it may not be possible to provide employment. In fact, in a country like Pakistan, the number of job seekers is expanding so fast that despite all efforts towards planned development, it has not been possible to provide employment to all. Unemployment, underemployment and disguised employment are our common features today. A 2.4 percent annual increase in population means more mouths to feed. Being an agricultural country and despite all our efforts, good or bad apart, for raising agricultural production, we are not able to fully feed our population. Food scarcity affects economic development, inadequate supply of food leads to undernourishment of the people which lowers their productivity. It further reduces the production capacity of the workers, and the deficiency of food compels the country to import food grains which places an unnecessary strain on foreign exchange reserves.
It is agreed that rapid growth of population is largely responsible for the perpetuation of the vicious cycle of poverty in developing countries like Pakistan. With their higher population, people spend the major part of their income on bringing up their children which results in maintaining the savings and rate of capital formation at the least level, reduction in per capita income, rise in general price level, leading to a sharp rise in the cost of living. Pakistan, being declared a welfare state in the Constitution, is pledged to meet social needs of the people adequately and for this, the government has to spend a lot on providing basic facilities like education, housing and medical aid but rapid increase in population makes the burden all the heavier.
More important a result than any other is that the population explosion is the key reason for illiteracy in Pakistan. People prefer to engage their children in economic activities, rather than providing them education. The government cannot ignore or shelve the problem of population explosion, for it is a rot and the entire development of the country depends on how effectively it is stemmed. Although Pakistan has witnessed higher economic growth in the previous years, it is unable to adjust its economic structure. Higher population growth has implications for natural resources.
Pakistan could not replicate the industrial countries’ transition because of its inability to modernise agriculture or develop an industrial base. In Pakistan this high-rate population growth is a cause for poverty, environmental degradation and high debt levels. Pakistan has to control population explosion for various reasons. Pakistan has socio-religious problems which are hampering its development efforts.
To lessen the exclusion of marginalised communities from opportunities, social and economic policies must be integrated with population policies. This covers spending on skills, health, education, and export-driven growth. Governments ought to support literacy, contraception, and youth engagement in national issues. The irony is we do not own any ministry at federal level but a Trust called National Trust for Population Welfare (NATPOW) headed by a DG is working under the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.
The scope of NATPOW is limited in the absence of sufficient budgetary allocation, minimal assigned targets, and insignificant organizational structure. Thus, its performance is far below requirement. It is high time that the government, both federal and the provincial, should seriously activate and engage population departments, and adopt official programmes to build public opinion in reducing the birth rate so that the population can fit in well with the evolving pattern of our developing economy.
