Pakistan Taps Military Chief to Address Rapid Population Growth
The Pakistani federal government is seeking the involvement of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir in its efforts to curb the country's high population growth rate, a problem that has persisted for over three years. Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal announced this during a joint Senate committee meeting on Thursday, which was convened to discuss population management and policy reforms. Pakistan is currently the fifth most populous nation and is projected to become the fourth by 2030, surpassing Indonesia.
Minister Kamal highlighted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has held multiple high-level meetings and formed a committee, including Field Marshal Munir, to tackle the issue, signaling the government's commitment. He noted that the current National Finance Commission (NFC) Award formula, which allocates 82% of resource distribution based on population, inadvertently incentivizes provinces to increase their populations. Kamal proposed revising this to link only 50% of the NFC formula to population size. The government has also granted tax exemptions on contraceptives to address limited availability, which contributes to high birth rates. Pakistan records approximately 6.7 million births annually, and wider access to family planning could potentially reduce this by 1.5 million people each year.
Discussions revealed that population welfare is a devolved subject under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, meaning federal decisions cannot be imposed on provinces. Lawmakers called for federal legislation, but the Ministry of Law stated parliament cannot legislate on exclusively devolved matters. The Council of Islamic Ideology confirmed no sectarian objections to population control measures. The committee directed consultations among the Ministry of Law, religious scholars, and parliamentary committees to form a consensus-based strategy. Separately, Senator Jan Mohammad raised concerns about a scholarship program for 150 students from Balochistan, including 47 nursing students, alleging they were misled about degree recognition, resulting in a Rs36 million World Bank expenditure. Minister Kamal assured the matter would be resolved within a week.
The Pakistani government's strategy to engage the military chief in addressing population growth highlights a deep-seated challenge in implementing effective demographic policies. By involving a figure of authority like Field Marshal Munir, the government signals a desire for decisive action, potentially bypassing bureaucratic inertia. However, the core issue appears to be a structural conflict between federal policy objectives and provincial autonomy post-devolution, as evidenced by the 18th Amendment's impact on population welfare. The proposed reform to the NFC Award formula, linking resource distribution less directly to population size, is a critical step towards aligning financial incentives with demographic control goals. This move could rebalance provincial motivations, shifting focus from population expansion to sustainable development. The challenge lies in achieving provincial consensus and legislative consensus on a matter that has been constitutionally devolved, requiring careful negotiation and potentially new intergovernmental frameworks to ensure effective implementation of national population strategies in the coming decade.
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