According to UNDP predictions in a report released earlier this year, Pakistan’s population might exceed 403 million by 2050 if the current growth rate is not addressed.
I shudder to think what my country would look like with an unbelievable headcount of 400 million plus! Therefore, we should use our institutions and all media forums (print, electronic, and social) to educate and urge the nation about the importance of stabilizing the population at 245 million people for the next fifteen to twenty years. This would help us address many of our festering economic, social, political, and climate-related issues.
Indeed, I believe that external help may be sought and utilized, including adopting the latest reproductive control techniques, to enable us to stabilize our population at the present level of 245 million.
ABBAS R. SIDDIQI
Lahore.