ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the importance of integrating population management with Pakistan’s long-term development agenda, economic progress, and human capital enhancement, urging stronger coordination among provinces and wider public awareness efforts to address rapid population growth.
While presiding over a high-level meeting on population welfare on Thursday, the prime minister described the country’s rising population as one of its most pressing challenges. He said population management and family welfare should be regarded as a national responsibility essential for ensuring sustainable development.
Emphasizing that balanced population growth is critical to the country’s future, PM Shehbaz directed officials to convene a meeting of the National Population Council at the earliest opportunity.
During the briefing, officials presented updates on Pakistan’s demographic trends, ongoing population welfare programs, and preparations for the upcoming council meeting. They informed the prime minister that the session would include the chief ministers of all provinces, the leadership of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as well as representatives from relevant institutions to develop a coordinated national strategy.
Officials also shared that the operational framework for the National Population Council Secretariat has been completed. Meanwhile, the National Stabilization Plan 2026–2035 is being finalized, aiming to reduce the annual population growth rate from the current 2.55 percent to 1.25 percent by 2035.
The proposed strategy prioritizes improvements in healthcare, education, youth empowerment, women’s participation in the workforce, vocational skills development, and social protection programs. The government is also working to align several federal social welfare initiatives with broader population welfare objectives.
The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Ahad Khan Cheema, Syed Mustafa Kamal, Attaullah Tarar, and other senior government officials.
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