Population
explosion
Outline
I. population
growth means, an increase in the number of people that reside in a city, state
or a country. It is a danger and it has its adverse impacts, and there are
several reasons which are involved in it; therefore, it needs to be controlled
with an iron will.
II.
Population growth rate of the world and of Pakistan.
III. There
are several reasons for the population explosion.
a.
The foremost reason is the illiteracy because the
literacy rate.
b.
The science and obsolete customs also plays theirs
due role in population growth.
c.
The overall gradual betterment in living standard
and life is also important factor.
IV. The
adverse consequences of population explosion are also numerous.
a.
Institution dealings with them such as school,
colleges, universities, hospitals, shops, agriculture, markets, houses, and
other social facilities, each one is compelled to be increased.
b.
Population growth badly affects the economy of a
country.
c.
It also has negative impacts on the agriculture
side.
V. As the
handwriting is on the wall, it is high time for the concerned authorities to
gird up their loins with an iron will to impede the menace of population
explosion from its mushroom growth.
VI. Pakistan
is today standing at the crossroads, and the vision must be that Pakistan comes
first even before our personal vested interests.
Population
means, all the inhabitants of a particular place, and population growth means, an
increase in the number of people that reside in a city, state or a country. It
is the increase in the number of individuals in a population. One may argue
that it has several benefits such as it increases economic growth because of
demand and supply principle; the abundant labour force runs the wheel of the economy;
further, more tax-payer means more income for the state. Furthermore, human resource
when converted into human capital, it proves to be a holistic development of a
country. . Unfortunately, for developing countries, like Pakistan, it is a
blessing in disguise. In the myriad of challenges like economic development, poverty,
inflation, unemployment, low literacy rate, hunger, food, and scarcity of
water, low standard of living, low per capita income; the population explosion
is considered to be one of the stimuli behind these problems. So, it is not a
reason to be proud of, rather a cause of concern for Pakistan. The population
explosion has its adverse impacts, and there are several reasons which are
involved in it; therefore, it needs to be controlled with an iron will.
The world population reached the
mark of its first billion in 1804, the second in 1927, the third in 1960, the
fourth in 1974, the fifth in 1987, the sixth in 1999 and the seventh in 2011. Whereas
Pakistan has the population of 33 million in 1950 and today it is around 210
million; it has ranked us sixth most populous country after China, India, USA,
Indonesia, and Brazil. In terms of land area Pakistan is 34th and shares 0.6%
of the world area and in terms of Human Development Indicator, it has 150th position
in the world, until 2018. Further, Pakistan also has the highest population
growth rate at around 1.90% or as per UNESCO’s statistics 2%. Moreover, it shares
2.81% of the total world population, wherein 34.9 % of its population is urban.
Each family in Pakistan on average has 3.1 children. If the population of the
country continues to grow with the same rate (1.90%), it is likely to double in
next 37 years, making Pakistan 3rd most populous country of the world; whereas
land area will remain the same rather will be reduced due to residential plans.
There are several reasons for the
population explosion. The foremost reason is the illiteracy because the
literacy rate still stands around 62 percent in the year 2017-2018. The
illiterates are unable to understand the inflation, economy, and expenditures
which are rising day by day, from domestic to national level, from basic
education to the university expenses. Eventually, their offspring remains
uneducated, and the vicious cycle of population growth remains intact.
Secondly, the science and obsolete
customs also plays theirs due role in population growth. With the help
maternity centers, modern medicines, and separate child clinics, the infant’s
mortality rate gets increased. In addition to the high fertility rate in
Pakistan, which is around 3.73 in 2019, polygamy is another factor and that although
is an offence if the husband marries again without the permission and informing
the existing wife, yet it is evidently visible both in urban and rural areas. The
wish of a Babyboy is another customary factor in this regard; because of the
patriarchal nature of our society, families often give birth to six girls just
to have one boy.
Moreover, the overall gradual
betterment in living standard and life is also important factor. The
development, roads, hospitals, access to medicine; and an effort of clean water
supply to drink, better and safe food; the flood control, pleasant environment,
social stability; the eradication of life-threatening diseases like malaria,
polio, dengue fever, also aid in population growth.
The adverse consequences of
population explosion are also numerous. The more population means, more mouths
to be fulfilled. With the growth of humans, each institution dealings with them
such as school, colleges, universities, hospitals, shops, agriculture, markets,
houses, and other social facilities, each one is compelled to be increased. Eventually,
the limited resources and paucity of these facilities generate unproductive
citizens with an inclination towards social evils; resultantly, the crime ratio
gets increased.
In addition, population growth badly
affects the economy of a country. It results in the decline of per capita
income and purchasing power of the citizens. And when demand diminishes, then
as per the demand and supply principle, the investment also declines.
Consequently, unemployment which leads toward poverty becomes the fate of
downtrodden of society.
It also has negative impacts on the
agriculture side. With more than 60 percent population depending on
agriculture, under limited yield rate and shortage of water, facing the havoc
of flooding and droughts; it is leading toward a situation when input may
surpass the output. The small farmer is already under the burden of debt and
labour. He barely lives hands to mouth; so, increase in numbers of his family,
makes him more meager and miserable.
The honorable Supreme Court of
Pakistan has also highlighted the issue in its judgment which is published in
2019 SCMR at page, 247. The court formulated a Task Force which recommends that
National and Provincial Task Force comprising Prime Minister, Chief Ministers
and all population ministers be formed to take critical decisions to reduce
population growth rate. Further, to ensure all public and private family
hospitals should start counselling of the families’ patients. A fund with
annual allocation of Rs 10 billion be set up in this regard. Legislations should
be passed from parliament, and a national narrative must be built through
campaign. Further, the court also recommends to use, curriculum, training,
contraceptive measures, and above all the support of Ulema.
Under these circumstances, as the
handwriting is on the wall, it is high time for the concerned authorities to
gird up their loins with an iron will to impede the menace of population
explosion from its mushroom growth.
To conclude, Pakistan is today
standing at the crossroads. It will either perish forever or will emerge as a stronger
nation. What are needed is a vision and a sincere leadership that could
transform dreams into reality. The problem of overpopulation has now started to
haunt us and unless we tackle it pragmatically our dream of a bright and
glorious future will just remain a pious wish. It needs a multipronged attack
to deal with overpopulation. A strong Pakistan should be our first priority and
if we have to make certain hard decisions for its accomplishment no one should
hesitate to lead and pull the trigger. Indeed, Pakistan comes first even before
our personal vested interests.
Lastly,
as our government already recognized the potential of exiting young population,
who are 60 percent of the total; a big labor force; a big market and all of
their benefits which those countries who are lacking with it feel, must be
utilized. They must be converted into human capital so that current population
proves to be a blessing for Pakistan.
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