PESHAWAR: Speakers here an awareness and training seminar urged the parents to plan their families while keeping in view the national resources and keeping a brake of three years between the births of children to balance the resources and population.
The one-day training seminar was organized for the representatives of the local government in Abbottabad with the support of the United Nations Population Funds. Additional Director General, Population Welfare Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Wali Muhammad Khan was key speaker of the seminar. District Population Welfare Officer Abbottabad Shamsur Rahman Dawar also addressed the participants.
Additional Director General of Population Welfare Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wali Muhammad Khan said that Pakistan is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of population and the first among Muslim countries. If the growth of our population remains continues at the rate of 2.55% then after 29 years the population of our country will double.
He said that the population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is currently more than 40 million, which is increasing by one million people every year, due to which our country is unable to bear the burden of it. Cities are expanding and agricultural land is shrinking, and the gap between food supply and demand is widening.
Social evils are on the rise and urged the people to fulfill their responsibilities well and keep a gap of three years between the birth of children to balance the resources and population.
In the seminar, local government representatives asked questions regarding the Population Welfare Department and its services, which were answered in detail by District Population Welfare Officer Shamsur Rehman Dawar.
In terms of population, he said that influx of visitors visit Abbottabad during the tourism season, which he attributed continuous increase in population due to which the country’s other resources along with population growth is a major problem.
He told that the participants that the seminar has been organized to seek their cooperation to dispel the negative impacts of the growing population at grass-root level and fulfill responsibilities in efficient manner.
He further told the participants that as they are representing the people at grass-root level of Village Council, so you people should have solution to the problems at that your level. He said that the Population Welfare Department has its own system, but as compare to the local government system, it is no so strong.
He said that a representative of the Population Welfare Department will remain in formal contact with them to disseminate our message to the people and also have to keep check on our employees regarding creation of awareness regarding population control among the people.
District Population Welfare Officer said that there is difference of 12000 in the ratio of birth and deaths. Referring to a proposal given by the Planning & Development Department regarding Abbottabad, said that there is no room for further population in the city. So there is a need for the sitting up of a new a city. But, this is also not a suitable solution, as beside environment it was trigger other problems.
Briefing regarding the Population Welfare Department, in Hazara Division, he said that the increase in population have a great impact on the development of education, health, communication, clean drinking water sectors and other facilities.
He further said that due to the rapid increase in population, where the health of mother and child are seriously threatened, the government’s efforts for the development of the province are also being affected. According to an estimate, out of 100,000 women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 165 die during childbirth, while 53 out of 1,000 children die between birth and one year of age. Better education and health of children is our responsibility. We have to decide the number of children while keeping in view our national resources.
It is the right of every couple to have children, but it is also important to consider our resources while planning a family and to balance how we will be able to develop, educate and train our children. How best to carry out this responsibility.
He said the provincial government made the National Population Balance Statement as part of the government initiatives. They can fulfill the basic rights of their children and family while maintaining balance in the formation and resources.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023