Former Ambassador, Manzoorul Haq here on Sunday said that the control over population growth had always been a big challenge for developing countries like Pakistan and stressed upon the need for creating balance between population and the country’s resources to provide quality services to the people besides ensuring sustainable economic growth and development.
Talking to APP, he said that the unbridled growing trajectory in the country’s population graph was moving at fast pace, exerting an extra pressure on education, health, food, infrastructure among other socioeconomic sectors, which has become one of the main factors for deprivation of citizens of quality services besides undermining the economic growth and industrial development.
At the time of Pakistan’s independence, he said our population was only 30 million that has now swelled to over 220 million with a record seven times increase during the last 74 years. He said that every year, five million people were being added in the country with a substantial two percent growth rate.—APP
