21 May, 2012
Rapid population growth continues to be a major problem for Pakistan, even after over six decades of its creation. In fact, this one problem lies at the centre of Pakistan's social, economic and political problems. At the time of independence, united Pakistan (former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and West Pakistan) was the 13th most populous country in the world with a population of 32.5 million.
However, in 1996, it ranked seventh with a population of 140 million. Today, Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world with a population of approximately180 million. By 2020, Pakistan's population is expected to reach the 210 million mark, a situation that will burden its limited resources, making it difficult for the country to meet the requirements of additional people. No plausible development plan can sustain such a high rate of population growth. Since the 1960s, different governments have made sincere efforts to check the unrestrained population growth in the country, but their efforts could not produce significant results owing to typical phobias associated with birth control in Pakistan because of our narrow understanding of religious and social affairs.