Joint Family System
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.
Rural Population
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.
Islamic Faith
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 programs. These
programrs 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 programs 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.
Lack of Health care Facilities
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.
Housing Problems
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.
Increased Crime Rates
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 programs 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 training. The aim
of these programs is to create awareness about the family planning programs.
For this purpose about ten thousands persons have already been inducted by
population welfare departments.
Depletion of Resources
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 programs 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 programs
to creates awareness in the general public should be held at all levels. These
programs 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.