Advertisements cannot resolve 'burgeoning population' issue, says CJP

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar, on Thursday said problems faced by the country couldn’t be resolved until bulging population issue was addressed, ARY News reported.

“Only [awareness] advertisements cannot fix the problem,” said the chief justice while hearing proceedings of the case. “Burgeoning population is even a bigger issue than the construction of dams. The government was supposed to furnish an action plan in this regard, but it didn’t do so.”

During the hearing, attorney general informed the court that awareness campaign regarding the over-population issue was underway in the country.

Responding to him, the CJP said: “You do not have a definite plan. We are here to highlight the responsibilities of the government.”

The chief justice recalled that a symposium was also held on the issue and the government accepted proposals floated during the seminar [in Islamabad].

Hearing of the case was adjourned till January 14.

On Nov 20, the federal government and the provinces decided to form task forces within their jurisdictions to control rapid population growth. The task force is headed by the prime minister at the national level and by the respective chief ministers at the provincial levels.

Taking suo motu notice of the unchecked population growth in the country, the Supreme Court in June ordered formulation of policy to tackle over-population, and said the policy would then be referred to the government that would take charge after the July 25 election for its consideration and implementation.

Consequently, a committee was constituted to formulate a uniform policy to defuse the population bomb.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had directed to hold seminars, conduct research and study examples of other countries, which tackled the growing population issue.