KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday described unchecked population growth as one of Pakistan’s most serious social and economic challenges, stressing the need for sustained, evidence-based family planning policies to safeguard the country’s future.
He was speaking at “Waqfa – Tawazun Ke Liye”, a programme organised by the Khalil-ur-Rahman Foundation (MKRF) in collaboration with Population Council Pakistan to launch a social and behavioural change campaign on family planning, held at the Hindu Gymkhana’s NAPA Auditorium. The event was also addressed by MPA Nida Khuhro, Population Council Pakistan Country Director Dr Zeba Sathar, UK Deputy High Commissioner Lance Domm and MKRF Managing Director Shahrukh Hasan.
Recalling Pakistan’s division in 1971, the chief minister said the country’s population at the time stood at around 62 million, compared to about 70 million in Bangladesh and slightly under 550 million in India.
Highlighting demographic changes over the past 54 years, he said India’s population has now reached 1.48 billion, Bangladesh’s 177 million, while Pakistan’s population has surged to 259 million.
“India’s population grew 2.7 times, Bangladesh’s about two and a half times, whereas Pakistan’s population increased by 4.2 times,” CM Murad Ali Shah noted, pointing to stark differences in population management.
He said that while India and Bangladesh maintained population growth rates close to 1.8 per cent, India still succeeded in keeping its growth rate 1.7 per cent lower than Pakistan’s, reflecting the impact of consistent, long-term policies.
The chief minister observed that had Pakistan followed a population growth trajectory similar to Bangladesh since 1971, its population today would have been around 155 million — nearly 100 million less than its current size. “We must ask ourselves what went wrong and why we failed to recognise our mistakes in time,” he said.
Terming population growth a deep-rooted social issue with far-reaching economic implications, he recalled that in the 1970s public awareness campaigns such as “Small family, prosperous family” were regularly broadcast on television.
“At that time, there was only PTV, and we grew up hearing these messages,” he said, adding that during the martial law period, population control lost priority and family planning campaigns gradually vanished from public discourse.
“Other countries took timely measures, fully aware that unchecked population growth would eventually become an economic burden. Unfortunately, we did not,” he concluded.
