Nature of population Problems in world and Pakistan

Population and social development are interrelated.

Population explosion leads to social problems like unemployment, poverty, low economic
development etc.The social development which is determined by better health care facilities,
education and high literacy rate and improvement in the standard of living of people are
adversely affected due to high population. The benefits of government schemes do not reach the
masses. A vast share of GDP is required to keep the level of per capita income constant. The
weaker sections of the population do not get the share of the development.

For an equitable social development government should aim not only at controlling the
unregulated human growth of numerical strength but also at checking the unregulated movement
of the population and increasing concentration of people in the urbanized areas and providing
adequate living space and other facilites.These goals have to be jointly linked with the
formulation and implementation of policies aimed at population regulation and planning for
harnessing both natural and human resources. Thus only population growth per se may not be
perceived as a problem but its relation with the availability of resources may be viewed with
great concern.

Causes of Population growth

i. There is a widening gap between birth and death rates.
ii. Better medical facilities and application.
iii. Improvement in transport facilities helps people to reach the medical and health facilities.
iv. Social factors like child marriage and early marriage.
v. Lack and adoption of family planning measures.
vi. Illiteracy

Consequences of population explosion

i. Heavy pressure on land.
ii. Food shortage.
iii.Housing problems.
iv. Unemployment
v. Illiteracy
vi. Economic loss
vii.Rate of economic development has been affected.
viii.Law and order problems.
ix. Emergence of slums and overburden of resources.
x. Lower standard of living
xi. Pollution problem
xii Shrinking of national resources.

Suggestions to lower the population growth

i. Emphasis on female literacy
ii. Adoption of family planning measures.
iii. Educating people through mass -media.
iv. Improvement in the quality of health and family welfare services.
v. Empowering women as decision makers.
vi. Coordination between states and the centers for the implementation of the population control
policies.

Nature of population problem in developing countries

The common characteristics of developing countries state that the low levels of living are
manifested qualitatively and quantitatively in form of law incomes, inadequate housing,
poor health, limited or no education, high infant mortality, low life and work expectancy,
and in many cases, a general sense of malouse and hopelessness.

For example in 1988, 81% of the world's total income (US 12,650 billion) was produced
by less than 23% of world's total population living in the economically developed
countries. Low levels of productivity. Developing countries have relatively low levels of
labour productivity, i.e. output per unit of labour.

This is mainly due to the absence or severe lack of complementary factor inputs such as
physical, capital and/or experienced management to raise labour productivity, there is
need to mobilise savings and foreign finance in order to generate new investments in
physical capital goods, and build up the stock of human capital through investment in
education and training.

In addition, institutional changes in land tenure, credit and banking structures, honest and
efficient administrations and the restructuring of educational and training programmes
should be tailored to the needs of the developing societies.

High rate of population growth and dependence burdens: In.1990, the world's population
was estimated at 5.3 billion, of which more than 3/4th lived in the less developed
countries. Almost all the developing countries possess high population growth potential
characterised by high birth rate and high but declining death rate.

Death rates in developing countries have fallen, compared to the past, due to improved
health conditions and control of major infectious diseases. On the average annual
population growth rate in developing countries is 2% as compared with about 0.7% in
developed countries.

Birth rates are generally high in the order of 30-40 per 1000 whereas those for advanced
countries are less than half that figure. An important consequence of high birth rate is that
a larger proportion of the total population is the younger age groups.

This leads to a higher economic dependency burden since about 40% of the population in
developed countries. With many dependants to support, it becomes difficult for the
workers to save and invest in productive assets.
Developing countries also have a shorter life expectancy averaging 51 years as compared
with 75 years for developed countries, implying that a smaller fraction of their population
is available as an effective labour force.

Substantial dependence on agricultural produce and export of primary products: The

majority of the people in developing countries lives and work in rural areas.

Over 75% of the population in Africa and 63% in Asia are dependant on agriculture
compared to only 5.5% in North America. Agriculture contributes well over 20% of GDP
for most developing countries compared to only 3% in developed countries.

In Uganda agriculture contributes a bout 45% of GDP and close to 90% of the population
like and work in rural areas, heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture for a livelihood
and the production of a few cash crops for an income.

The basic reasons for the concentration of people are basic needs of food, clothing and
shelter. Agriculture productivity is low because of primitive technology, poor
organisation and limited physical and human capital inputs.

Population Problems in Pakistan

Population expansion is a social problem of the whole world. World population is expanding
at the rate of about 2% annually.
The Western advanced countries are expanding with the rate at 1% or less. The population of
Great Britain is expanding at a rate of 0.1%, USA at 1%, Russia at 0.9%, China at 1.8%, Japan
at 1.1% during 1970-80 population of 2.6% annually during census of 1998.
Population expansion is a problem only when the rate of population expansion is exceeding
the rate of expansion in resources. The rate of progress decreases with population expansion
and the national resources go waste.
Pakistan is facing this problem seriously because the resources are decreasing due to water –
logging and salinity of lands. Floods and erosion of land are major problems every year by
which the crops and the lands are wasted. By water logging thousands of acres go barren
every year.
Low yield per acre is another problem in agriculture. Our 53% workers are engaged in
agriculture which constitutes 28% of the population. (Census 1998)
We import wheat and edible oils from United States of America. Less than 5% population is
cultivating the lands in USA. America with a population of more than two hundred million
people provides food to its people and exports to other countries including Pakistan. The
cause of low yield per acre lies not in less work but in unscientific technology adopted in
agriculture.
Every year a large number of crops are wasted by pests besides using pesticides with a heavy
financial investment. Similarly the people with limited resources and less information on
mechanized farming are unable to control the problem of low yield. More over the supply of
better seeds and cultivating machines to the cultivators is not done at the proper time of land
cultivation. About half of the lands are cultivated late after the prescribed period. This leads
to low production of crops because the plants remain weak and can not face the attack of
pests. In this way some of the crops are wasted. This leads to low production per acre in
agriculture.
Population expansion is a boon for the nations because none of the countries destroy their
men, women and their children. To continue their race, humanity has its purpose to remain
continuing from generation to generation with product of children.
Here the problem is that the economic resources are deficient and the requirement of a
person is higher for his life. By this way one is disturbed when the balance of income and
expenditure becomes unbalanced. Some people say that creating balance between
expenditure and income resources is the main aim. I agree with this proposal to the extent
that human labour can be utilized in expanding material resources.
Those who oppose this idea say that most of the human beings can not be put into hard
labour and output of such labour in less fruitful, in face of requirements.
Another view is that the earning members in a family are a few. The rest of the members
depend upon them. This brings down our family income in most of the Middle and Eastern
countries the men work and women remain in houses. Although it brings peace in family, and
economically the per capita income remains poor in most of the case. Those people who are
facing population explosion feel least dissatisfied. They say, we are satisfied and have no
problem. They believe on nature and then on their labour.
On the other hand the economists in a family sociologist and exports feel this expansion is a
great mean to human life. They say that most of the human resources are consumed by the
exceeding number of family members which brings down the standard of living. Some
important figures on population growth of Pakistan are that in 1992 our population was
117.32 million. The growth rate was 3.10% in 1998 population increased to 130 million with
2.6% annual.
Crude birth rate (c.b.r) in 35 total number olive birth in an area of 1000 population within one
year. Crude death rate is the total numbers of death in an area of 1000 people in one year.
C.b.r – C.d.r = natural increase in population
35 – 9 = 26
It means in a population of 1000 people 26 persons are added every year in Pakistan. In 1000
people the addition will be equal to 26 + 10 = 2.6 it means 2.6% population is increasing
annually in Pakistan.
Causes of Population Expansion:
1. Natural birth is allowed in a family. Almost of the children are produced in families, where
the culture has on barrier.
2. Modern health and sanitation facilities have led to child birth alive and the chances of
death of child and mother have been reduced at maternity. Health centres and education
played major role in this respect.
3. The medical facilities have been increased and adopted by the people to control diseases
by which the death rate has been reduced.
4. Some cultures lay emphasis on having more and more number of children to make it a sign
of Prestige. This has led to Polygamy.
5. People hate the methods of birth control, fell unnatural and dislike their application.
6. Some people think that natural birth should not be stopped because this is against
religious values.
Solution of Problem:
1. Till the people are not motivated the population control efforts will remain futile. Those
people who are busy in population control Programmes failed to show good results.
2. The motivation Programmes are disliked by people therefore their teaching can not be
done openly in society.
3. It is the voluntary programme in which the people can not be forced to adopt their
methods that is why the results of the Programme are not encouraging.
4. Most of people are heard saying that two to three children are sufficient in a family.
But when asked to adopt control methods they lay behind because the policy has not been
adopted and accepted by the people. Still opposition in there and this needs vast information
and Propaganda through mass media communication.
5. Emphasis on hard work and labour should be increased. All the adult members of family to
go on work of any nature, so that the income of family may increase. It will reduce the
problem of income and standard of living will not suffer. The rate of progress in the family
will rise by and by. Unemployed persons should be given jobs of their parents and they
should not feel shy in doing work whether it is of any nature.

Population Explosion in Pakistan

Dancing around the fire is not the solution to any problem.One should try to see beneath the
surface in order to grasp an idea about the basic issue. Despite a steam of strong words and
Family Planning Programmed introduced by the governments of many countries of the world,
population is still increasing at an alarming especially in the third world countries.

Pakistan is also facing the dragon of over population. This problem has given rise to
multidimensional problems in our country. At present we are scarce in resources and it has
become difficult for the government to meet the rapidly growing needs of the huge population
with its scarce resources. The growth rate of Pakistan is very high and is among the highest in
the world. Since partition in 1947, the population of Pakistan has become more than tripled.
Every year almost four million people are added to already over burdened economy. This yearly
increase in our population is equal to the total populations of any countries. This rapidly growing
population has really created an obstacle in the way of our economic progress. The massively
increasing population has almost outstripped the resources in production, in facilities and in job
opportunities.

It is estimated that if the present growth rate prevails, then the population of Pakistan will be
double by the year 2020. This is , in fact, an alarming situation, Even today at the population of
140million it has become difficult for us to provide basic necessities of life to the majority of the
population. A great number of people have no access to the health services. The safe drinking
water is also not available at many places, many people do not have the sanitation facilities, a lot
of children are not provided the primary education and illiteracy rate is very high among the
adults. According to a report issued by united Nations about four million people are living below
the poverty line.

The genesis of the situation reflects some obvious reasons. A major reason is the tradition of
having joint family system. This system puts less burden of bringing up of children on the
parents. As the parents have minimum expenditure so they tend to produce more children.

Another important factor is that majority of the population of our country lives in the rural areas.
In these regions agriculture is the only profession and in agricultural processes, children are
considered very helpful for the parents. This factor encourages the parents to have more children.

Then there is the question of male child in our society. The male baby is welcomed more warmly
rather than a baby girl. This creates a desire for having a male baby at least, This factor acts an
incentive for more and more children till suitable number of male babies is achieved.

In addition to these the early age marriages in the rural areas, prove potential large size family
makers. It has been observed that such marriages produce at least seven children.

Then it comes to the Islamic laws. According to these the widows are allowed to marry again and
thus continue to act as procreation agents. Along with this the polygamy is also allowed and is
practiced in Islam. This gives rise to an obvious result of multiple issues.

The Islamic viewpoint of the people is also one of the major causes for the over population. It is
a matter of faith with the Muslims that Almighty God provides the needs of every child and the
parents are having no obligation in this regard. The Muslims are staunch believer in fate and so
they do not follow family planning programmes. These programmers are considered against the
spirit of Islam. At many places most of the elders in the rural areas categorize it as an instrument
of vagrancy and waywardness. They are of the view that such programmes give rise to
immorality among the young boys and girls.

Another reason can be considered is the hot and pleasant climatic conditions of Pakistan. The
environment of our country helps the early maturity of boys and girls and they become capable
of raising a family at an early stage. Along with this the recreational facilities are almost non-
existent. Conjugal recreation is the only alternative for married people.
The rapidly growing population is having a lot of adverse effects on our country. All over the
country poverty as increased and people do not have the basic necessities of life.

There is a shortfall in educational institutions and class rooms are over crowded. It has become
very difficult to get the child admitted I government schools. Due to this fact high fee charging
intuition spring up. These intuitions implement their own syllabus which is completely different
from the course of government schools. This creates a clear distinction between the students of
government and private schools. This also gives rise to tow educational systems working
simultaneously in the county.

Due to high growth rate of population the health care facilities have become inadequate. Child
and maturity centers are also lacking. The standards of food have been fallen and due to this the
number of patients has increased.

Another problem which results from over population is that ever increasing population creates
housing and settlement problems. It becomes very difficult for the individual and the society to
overcome them.

The great number of people is responsible for making the parks and gardens ugly spots. The
reactions facilities are decreasing in this way.

The unemployment increase. It becomes very difficult for the employer to provide social fringe
benefits to the employees. These employees are often deprived off from their rights like
pensions, medical facilities children’s education etc.

The high growth rate of population makes our society a consumption oriented society. This is
because more natural resources are to be consumed for more people. These resources once used,
cannot be renewed. So we have to import these terms at the cost of foreign exchange which
increases our import bill thus widens the gap between imports and exports.

The increase in population means an increase in the crime rate. When the people do not get the
jobs, when they do not get the proper facilities, they get frustrated and become revengeful
against the society. Due to this factor the crime rate increases. The rise in crimes makes an
atmosphere of fear. The people are oscillating between uncertainty and fear.

Dens traffic on roads cause a lot of accidents in which many precious lives are being lost. Due to
high growth rate of population the unlawful settlements are formed. These type of settlements
give rise to many problems . As no health facilities are available the are , so many disease are
caused.

In late 1990’s the government of Pakistan started two programmes to control the over
population. These were names as primary health care and population planning. These were
implemented through the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Population Welfare respectively.
These are planned to proved door to door services especially in the rural areas. Many lady
workers have been given jobs for this purpose. These women have been provided sufficient
trainings. The aim of these programmes is to create awareness about the family planning
programmes. For this purpose about ten thousands persons have already been inducted by
population welfare departments.

As the dragon of over population is digesting our already scarce resources at a massive speed. So
our government should go for the remedial measures. In this regard the following suggestions
may prove very fruitful and result oriented.

Late age marriages should be encouraged and the early age marriages should be condemned very
seriously. This will become very useful because the early age marriages usually gives rise to
large families.

The services of ulemas should be utilized in order to convince the people that family planning
programmes are not contrary to the Islamic values. In rural areas the people are highly under
influence of the religious leaders so their words spoken in the favor of family planning may yield
the desire results.

As the girls today are to become mothers in future so the high literacy rate in females may
become very important. An educated female will be aware of the consequences of over
population. In this regard the sex-education should be provided to all the graduates so that the
problem of over population can be countered in a comprehensive manner.

Conferences another programmes to creates awareness in the general public should be held at all
levels. These programmes will become very helpful in explaining the adverse effects of over
population to the people. This might make the brain wash of the people.

The electronic media should also be utilized. The advertisements through television might
convey the message very easily. Along with this non-government organizations should do some
activities which may become helpful in conveying the message to the general public.

A day should be celebrated at National level with the name of National Population Day. This
should be done on the pattern of the “World Population Day” which is being celebrated on the
11th of July each year. These types of activities play an important role in creating awareness
about the subject matter.

So, conclude in this way that the dragon of population has become a serious threat for the
prosperity of our country. Now the time has come that if we want to make Pakistan a State where
integrity, solidarity and prosperity will be all around, then we should not leave any stone
unturned in reducing the population growth rate. This reduction in population will lead the
country towards a stage where it will be able to provide all basic necessities of life to everyone.
 Population Planning
Pakistan's extremely high rate of population growth is caused by a falling death rate
combined with a continuing high birth rate. In 1950 the mortality rate was twenty-seven
per 1,000 population; by 1990 the rate had dropped to twelve (estimated) per 1,000. Yet
throughout this period, the birth rate was fortyfour per 1,000 population. On average, in
1990 each family had 6.2 children, and only 11 percent of couples were regularly
practicing contraception.

In 1952 the Family Planning Association of Pakistan, an NGO, initiated efforts to contain
population growth. Three years later, the government began to fund the association and
noted the need to reduce population growth in its First Five-Year Plan (1955-60). The
government soon combined its population planning efforts in hospitals and clinics into a
single program. Thus population planning was a dual effort led by the Family Planning
Association and the public sector.

In the mid-1960s, the Ministry of Health initiated a program in which intrauterine devices
(IUDs) were promoted. Payments were offered to hospitals and clinics as incentives,
and midwives were trained to treat patients. The government was able to attract funding
from many international donors, but the program lost support because the targets were
overly ambitious and because doctors and clinics allegedly overreported their services
to claim incentive payments.

The population planning program was suspended and substantively reorganized after
the fall of Mohammad Ayub Khan's government in 1969. In late December 1971, the
population was estimated at 65.2 million. In an attempt to control the population
problem, the government introduced several new programs. First, the Continuous
Motivation System Programme, which employed young urban women to visit rural
areas, was initiated. In 1975 the Inundation Programme was added. Based on the
premise that greater availability would increase use, shopkeepers throughout the
country stocked birth control pills and condoms. Both programs failed, however. The
unmarried urban women had little understanding of the lives of the rural women they
were to motivate, and shopkeepers kept the contraceptives out of sight because it was
considered mannerless to display them in an obvious way.

Following Zia ul-Haq's coup d'état in 1977, government population planning efforts were
almost halted. In 1980 the Population Division, formerly under the direction of a minister
of state, was renamed the Population Welfare Division and transferred to the Ministry of
Planning and Economic Development. This agency was charged with the delivery of
both family planning services and maternal and child health care. This reorganized
structure corresponded with the new population planning strategy, which was based on
a multifaceted community-based "cafeteria" approach, in cooperation with Family
Welfare Centres (essentially clinics) and Reproductive Health Centres (mostly engaged
in sterilizations). Community participation had finally became a cornerstone of the
government's policy, and it was hoped that contraceptive use would rise dramatically.
The population by 1980 had exceeded 84 million.
In preparing the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1983-88), the government projected a national
population of 147 million in the year 2000 if the growth rate were to be a constant at 2.8
percent per year, and of 134 million if the rate were to decline to the desired 2.1 percent
per year by then. By the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1988-93) period, the multipronged
approach initiated in the 1980s had increased international donor assistance and had
begun to enlist local NGOs. Efforts to improve maternal and child health were coupled
with education campaigns. Because of local mores concerning modesty, the
government avoided explicit reference to contraceptive devices and instead focused its
public education efforts on encouraging couples to limit their family size to two children.

The key to controlling population growth, according to activists in the women's

movement, lies in raising the socioeconomic status of women. Until a woman's status is
determined by something other than her reproductive capabilities, and especially by the
number of sons she bears, severe impediments to lowering population growth rates will
persist.

The value of the study of demography is clear from the scope of this important
field of study. Since the scope is constantly increasing, therefore, it shows the
growing recognition of its importance. Demography helps in the understanding of
population problems particularly of the less developed regions of the world. It also
helps in planning the population of developed and undeveloped countries.
International agencies are publishing data in this connection from time to time. The
importance of demographical studies is clarified by the observation of the
implications of rapid population growth. The chief problem concerning population
in a country is to control population growth in correlation with the growth of health
amenities, food supplies employment, education and housing. Demographical
studies point out the conditions and requirements in these areas so that future
development and growth may be planned accordingly. In brief, the following
points may be noted about the importance of demography:

1. Health Planning:

Persistent high fertility causes significant health problems, both for the mother and
the child. In most of the developing counties married women’s are characterised by
continuous nutritional drain from repeated pregnancies. Premature curtailment of
breast feeding is an important cause of high infant mortality. High fertility is
connected with underdevelopment of children. Since demography studies fertility
and connected problems therefore its study is a must for health planning of the
country.

2. Planning of Food Supply:

Planning of food supply means availability of adequate food for total population,
both in quality as well as in quantity. Inadequate food supply results in growth
retardation high mortality rates, poor health, low physical activity and
consequently low productivity. Therefore food supply must grow in correlation
with population growth. Thus planning of food supply requires and presupposes
population studies. In a particular nation it may not be possible to meet demands of
food supply within the country. Different nations today very much depend upon
other nations for food supply. Besides, undeveloped and underdeveloped countries
cannot meet the demands of food supply without the help of international agencies.
Therefore, Population Council and Population Division of UNO study population
growth and food supply on an international basis so that help may be advanced to
undeveloped and underdeveloped countries.

3. Employment Planning:

Employment is an international problem these days. Unemployment and under

development is fast growing not only in the economically backward countries but
also in more developed nations. A demographic factor of considerable importance
is the high dependency ratio in less developed countries such as India where four
or five persons depend upon the income of one person. Therefore, employment
planning requires study of population in all its aspects. It also requires study of
migration, immigration and emigration which is an important area of demography.
Thus the importance of demography in employment planning is clear.

4. Educational Planning:

Every nation today is concerned with providing proper education to the children.
The number of children however, is constantly increasing. Therefore, educational
planning for children requires demographical planning. This is also required in the
case of uneducated adults. For example in India more than 1/3 of all the students
are illiterate. The demographical assessment of widespread illiteracy and quantum
of education required is a necessary prelude to all educational planning. The
estimates about the future needs of education are also made on the basis of
estimates of growth of population.

5. Housing Planning:

Demand for housing increases with the increase in the size of population.
Therefore data for mortality, fertility, migration and family formation provide basis
for estimates of housing required. For example, according to the estimates prepared
by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the
number of persons in the age-group 15-24 in the region are likely to increase from
379 million in 1970 t 469 million by 1980, an increase of 24 per cent. These people
will marry and would like to establish their own homes. According to another
estimate prepared by ESCAP, the percentage of the urban population in the region
will increase from 25 in 1970 to 44 by 2000. The increase in the urban population
of the region during this period will be from 507 million to 1551 million. Available
statistics for the ESCAP region show that less than two housing units per thousand
populations were built each year during the 1960’s whereas the requirement was
for eleven units per thousand populations. In Latin America there is a deficit of 20
million housing units whereas in the ESCAP region the estimated deficit is of 22
million housing units in the urban areas and 125 million in the rural areas.

A theory of population is an explanation of the phenomenon of population growth.

It tries to explain the rise and fall, the growth and decrease of population in
different countries. It surveys the trends and analyses the causes of the various
stages in the curve of population. Based upon data in one or more particular
countries, a population theory seeks to generalise about the laws of population. It
tries to unravel the first principles of demographical process. Though systematic
theories of population have evolved very recently, theorising about population is
sufficiently old. In ancient times statesmen and thinkers tried to control population
according to the variability of means or to encourage it if required. The criteria for
encouraging or discouraging were the military, political, social and economic
issues. This is true about population theory even now. The problem of population
is not worked out in vacuum. It is always considered in the context of economic,
social and political issues. Of these the economic issue is the most important since
the most important problem concerning population is to meet the needs of the
growing population. The history of population theories has been classified on the
basis of before and after the advent of Malthus, the celebrated demographer. Thus
the periods are classified as Pre-Malthusian, Malthusian and Post-Malthusian
periods. These periods show thinking about population theories. But even before
these some early thinking can be discerned about population problems.