Threat of over – population

Iqra Liaqat
Overpopulation is intolerable for any country in the world . As far as Pakistan is concerned , there is rapid increase in population . People are paying no attention to this unbridled growth of population . Twenty – first century is the age of science and modern technology . Gone were the days , when states required manpower to defeat the enemy states . Quality not quantity matters in this modern era . But the situation is reverse in Pakistan . As per a report , five to six children are born after every single minute in Pakistan . As a result , there is a huge gap between demand and supply of different necessities of life . Energy is not available as per needs of the country . Unfortunately , people are more and resources are scarce . Pakistan is the sixth most populated country in the world . It is an alarming situation . Standard of life is going down . State is unable to provide education to such a huge chunk of population . More than 40 % population of the country is living below poverty line . Perhaps , people are unaware of the fact that country needs useful not useless citizens . Previous governments tried their level best to control over population but failed due to certain reasons . It is ironical that last census was held in 1998. It is impossible for the government to solve people’s problems without knowing their exact number . Present government has an effective role to play if it wants to curtail ever rising monster of over – population . If effective steps are not taken in this regard , it will become difficult for Pakistan to become a developed country . As every problem has some causes , Illiteracy is the major cause of overpopulation in Pakistan . Literacy rate in the country is almost 58 % . The standard to declare a person literate is too low . A person who can read and write is considered literate . Truly speaking , real literacy rate is not more than 20 % , so illiterate ones cannot understand the consequences of overpopulation . They keep on increasing their number . They cannot comprehend that resources of the country cannot afford high birth rate . In this way , illiteracy is responsible for population explosion . Similarly , Pakistani society is a patriarchal society . In most of the cases , men dominate women in different fields of life . Normally , men decide how many children they want to have . Woman who bears the brunt of child birth has no say in this regard . Usually , a baby boy is considered a blessing for parents . On the other hand , baby girl is taken as a curse in society . She is not welcomed whole – heartedly . People keep on adding to their number to have more and more baby boys . This attitude gives further boost to overpopulation . Likewise , people do not know about the usage of contraceptives to prevent excessive child birth . There are a few families which want to have limited number of children . Unfortunately , they are unaware of precautionary measures to restrict population growth . They are ignorant of the act that they can reduce their birth rate without compromising their sexual desires . It is strange that such a situation is prevalent in the country in this modern age . Someone has rightly said that ignorance of law is no excuse . Hence , less knowledge of a certain preventive measure adds fuel to fire. Moreover , inefficient role of government encourages over population in the country . The government has not introduced pragmatic policies to control over population . There is no law in the country which can help overcome this issue . It seems as if politicians were not willing to resolve this issue because unborn have no votes . In the same way , successive governments failed to provide vocational training to people to turn them from liability into human resource in the country . So , irrational policies could not address this issue on humanitarian grounds . Besides it , unemploymen : adds insult to injury . Many people in the country do not have jobs . They are living from hand to mouth . Unemployed ones do not have opportunities to enjoy recreational activities . Such people do not have enough money to go picnic . They hardly manage to watch a movie at cinema . In these circumstances , they spend most of their time at home . Their life partner is the only source of enjoyment for them . Owing to their companionship , population growth of country has gone out of control .There are many effects of overpopulation . Its major effect is unavailability of basic facilities of life . A country like Pakistan cannot entertain ever increasing population .There are fewer educational institutions but people are more . As a result , six million children are out of school as per Economic Survey of Pakistan ( 2014-15 ) . There are a few hospitals in the country . The staff of these hospitals can provide services to a limited number of people . Consequently , common man faces a lot of problems when he suffers from particular diseases . Pure drinking water has become a rare commodity owing to which people are suffering from water – borne diseases .Secondly , overpopulation has disturbed the socio – economic fabric of society . It has given a rise to materialism . People having more children have to earn a lot to cater to their needs . They have to work more which has created a gap among people . They are living a life of hurry and worry . They have gone away from nature . On the one hand , overpopulation has weakened their economy , on the other hand , people hardly find time to sit with their near and dear ones . It is not in favour of people of the country .Thirdly , overpopulation has led to pollution in the country . There is rapid industrialization and urbanization in the country . This scenario has badly impacted the country’s weather pattern . There are a large number of vehicles which burn fossil fuels . Industries discharge poisonous gases and hazardous waste material . Urbanization causes deforestation . All these factors contribute in abrupt weather changes in the country . Temperature in summer goes up to 50C ° . Last year , hundreds of people lost their lives in Karachi owing to heat waves . This may also result in melting of glaciers and unprecedented rains . Unfortunately , the country has to confront with heavy floods .Lastly , there are few men of letters in Pakistan due to overpopulation . Education is regarded as the backbone of every country’s economy . Educational standards are under continuous decline in Pakistan . Teachers are unable to provide quality education to children . At the end of the day , there are few men of letters in the country . Apart from it , unchecked increase in population burdens the already scarce national resources . Pakistan has not been able to tap indigenous resources as per its high population growth . Such state of affairs can result in chaos and anarchy in society . As every problem has a few solutions , strict implementation of family planning programme is the major remedy to this issue . Government can play a positive role in curbing population growth in the country . There is a dire need to implement family planning in the country . Lady health workers can guide parents about negative impacts of overpopulation . They can create awareness about the usage of contraceptive to avoid unwanted population . Doctors and educated people of society can persuade people to limit their child birth . In this way , Pakistan can get rid of this menace . It is rightly said that education is a real panacea to socio – economic problems of society . Government needs to allocate more funds for education sector . The education system of Pakistan requires complete overhauling . An educated person can easily differentiate between good and evil . He can understand that overpopulation is not in favour of Pakistan . A literate one is well aware of the consequences of overpopulation . An educated one is useful while an uneducated one is a burden on national resources . Education can help Pakistan solve this problem on pragmatic grounds . Besides that , vocational training and occupational opportunities are a prerequisite to overcome this issue . Currently , there is bad governance in Pakistan . Country is faced with many issues due to which there is unemployment in the country . Government has to improve governance to create employment opportunities . Owing to poor law and order situation , foreign investors are reluctant to invest in Pakistan . If security matters are addressed , investors will automatically resume financial activities in the country . This will create job opportunities for people . Vocational training is also necessary to enable people meet their both ends . When people are prosperous , they will not compromise on their standard of living .