Population Growth and Economic Development in Pakistan
Saturday, 28 November 2015
Thursday, 26 November 2015
Population Growth and Economic Development in Pakistan
- Population problem lies at the heart of Pakistan’s social, economic and political problems. At the time of independence, Pakistan (united Pakistan that included former East Pakistan now Bangladesh) was the 13th most populous country in the world with a population of 32.5 million but in 1996 it was seventh with a population of 140 million. Today Pakistan is the 6th most populous country in the world with a population of 162 million.
- Pakistan’s population has grown at an average rate of 3% per annum since 1951 until mid 1980s but it slowed to an average rate of 2.6% per annum during 1986-2000 and since 2001 it is growing at an average rate of almost 2% per annum
- Pakistan’s population has increased 4.3 times.Pakistan’s population growth rate is now highest in Asia at 2.8%.
POPULATION GROWTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT :
- Population growth is not a problem but there are other issues.
- Population growth reduction is a conspiracy of the capitalists’ countries to keep developing countries in their dependence
- For many developing countries population growth is desirable.
MEASURES TO CONTROL OVER POPULATION
For many years development economists and social scientists have debated the seriousness of the consequences of rapid population growth. Those who are of the view that rapid population growth is not a real problem have offered three arguments:What is Population?
·
Population growth rate: 1.49% (2014 est.)
In human biology, the whole numbers of
residents take up an area (such as a country or the world) and frequently being
changed by increases (births and migrations) and losses (deaths and migrations).
What is Over Population?
The term “Over Population” or
“Population Explosion” is used to express the idea of more population for fewer
resources Population Situation in
Pakistan:
According to the economic survey of
Pakistan 2010-11, the total population of Pakistan is 177.1 million against the
173.5 million in last year. Population growth rate is 2.1 % and in the list of
most populous countries, Pakistan is at 6th number.
Control the Birth Rate
The
high birth rate i. e., 2.1% should be discouraged to reduce the population
size. Effective and successful family planning should be introduced.
Increase in Employment
More
employment opportunities must be provided to the young, talented, trained and educated
population. It will be helpful to decrease the fast birth rate.
High Literacy Rate
overnment should provide the more educational facilities to the backward population. This will provide the true picture of the economy, resources and population growth rate. Literacy rate is 57.7% in Pakistan.
- · Low Per Capital Income
- · Low Growth of Agriculture Sector
- · High Rate of Inflation
- · Low Saving and Low Investment
- · Low Living Standard
Following are the main causes of over population in Pakistan:
ALLAH is RAZIQ
Muslims
have a solid belief that God gives food to everyone even to an ant living in a
stone. So, why they reduce the size of family?
No or Less Opportunity Cost
71
% Women are not active in economic activities in Pakistan. Women have no any
economic loss while having a childe. Opportunity cost for having a childe is
very low or zero in Pakistan.
Low Per Capita Income
We
know that per capita income derives by dividing national income on total
population. Low per capita income shows population explosion. Per capita income
in Pakistan is $ 1254.
Unemployment
Unemployment
is also a symbol of over population. It is difficult to adjust the huge
population in economic activities. Rate of unemployment is 5.6 % in
Pakistan.The birth rate is very high which shows that our country is over
populated. Rapid growth rate of population is 2.1 % in Pakistan.
Need for More Earning Hands
A
single person cannot sport his large family in developing countries like
Pakistan. He thinks to have more children to be more earning hands.
Low Death Rate
Reduction
in death rate is another cause of over population. Death rate in 1951 was 2.8 %
while it is just 0.73 % in 2010-11.
Low Standard of Living
It
is observed that in Pakistan people with low income have more children. It is
difficult to support such large size family. It results in low living standard
of the population.
Illiteracy
Due
to lack of education, people are not aware of with the economic problems caused
by high birth rate. Literacy rate is 57.7 % in Pakistan.
Population Growth Economic
Development in Pakistan:
Economic development of a country depends upon various factors
such as its natural resources,capital goods and human resources. Human
resources are of fundamental importance because without them, the natural
resources of a country cannot be utilized reticently. Population plays a double role in the process of economic
development in
the third world countries. On one hand, it provides labor force for economic
development; while on the other hand, it is a burden on natural resources and
hampers economic growth.
The population of Pakistan was 32.5 million in the former West
Pakistan in 1972, 65.3 million in June 2004. Pakistan is one of those forty
developing countries of the world whose population growth is 1.90% every year.
It is the 9th most populous country in the world. The growth rate of the
population is a focal point in the economic development of a country. In the early
20th century, the growth rate of the population in Pakistan was only 0.86%. It
kept on going up with the passage of time.
It was 1.10% in 1972 and 3% in June 2004. The growing population
creates economics and social problem such as housing, education, health
transport water scarcity and urbanization. It reduces per capital
income because
when national income is divided by a big population, it results in a decline in
per capital income. A greater percentage of scarce resources is diverted to
meet the basic consumption needs of masses.
Therefore little capital is saved for investment and hence no
investment can be made. This creates the problem of un-employment and under employment which in turn leads to a fall in
national income.
There are two conflict opinions
among the economists. Some economists suggest that population is a natural
resource and it should be allowed to grow for economic development while others
oppose this view and regard rapid growth of population a big obstacle to
economic development.
Keeping in view all these
constraints we need to focus on the resources available in the country and
device strategies to utilize them effectively so that everyone becomes
productive. We need to improve our labor efficiency to increase production and
per capital income.
Also, the government should
adopt positive population control policies along with basic needs activities
for development. This comprises of natural reduction of birth rate and adoption
of basic need activities approach for development in a simple and feasible way.
It is the only way by which
population growth rate could be reduced and provision of basic needs can be
guaranteed and through this way we can increase our economy and make our nation
one of the greatest nations of the world.
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