Population planning message: Govt seeks religious scholars’ services

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to benefit from the services of religious scholars and khatibs for promoting the message of population planning and highlighting the importance of a healthy family by having fewer children.

Punjab Minister for Population Welfare Dr Jamal Nasir while chairing a meeting of Punjab Population Innovation Fund, here, Thursday revealed that one preacher will be taken onboard or incentivised in each of the 4,400 union councils in all districts of Punjab for this purpose.

Dr Jamal Nasir visited the office of Punjab Population Innovation Fund where DG Population Welfare and CEO of the Fund Saman Rai gave a briefing about the performance of the department. Additional Secretary Technical Dr Naila, General Managers Amina Akhshid, M Qayyum and officers concerned were also present on this occasion.

The minister further said that a round the clock telephone helpline 1793 has been established for providing guidance and assistance on family planning issues to the callers. The minister observed that putting the responsibility of population control entirely on women was not justifiable. Changing male dominant mindset was a prerequisite for this purpose, he added.

Keeping a family small was possible only with the consent of both husband and wife. There was a need to hire male social mobilisers to spread the message of family planning, he added.

Dr Jamal Nasir said that discussing the topic of family planning and working in this regard was a difficult task in our society. He said that the 60 percent population of Pakistan consists of youth, it is important to convey the message of family planning to the youth for effective population control.

He underlined the need to provide essential information about family planning to the youth before and immediately after marriage. He informed that two draft legislations have been prepared for premarital counseling of the youth about family planning. Dr Jamal directed that digital media should be used to spread the message of family planning effectively. He said that the services of the private sector were being hired to provide family welfare services.