Over Population (With Outline)

Over Population (With Outline)

Over Population

Outline:-

• What does over population mean?
• Its situation in Pakistan
• What Islam says in this respect?
• Reasons behind this over population
• Consequences of over population
• How to cope with this problem?

Over population does not mean greater number of population but it means “The rate of increase in population up to such extent that the national resources may not be able to provide optimum standard of life, then the country is over populated”. It is the most intractable problem, which the world confronts today. The alarming increase in the world population poses grim economic, social and political problems to human race. It is possible that in some countries the population may be in excess but with the use of their natural resources they would be able to facilitate its public in industry, commerce, transport and communication and provides them a high standard of living and there is no problem of over population. For some developing countries the situation is so grave and desperate that it has almost become a matter of life and death. Unfortunately, Pakistan is also one of those developing countries which have not been successful in controlling their rapidly increasing population. It’s crystal clear that the world of today is thickly populated. A country becomes thickly populated when its resources fail to meet its requirements and its natural resources are insufficient to meet the needs of the people. 

The relatively slow population growth before the independence of Pakistan can be attributed to wide spread famines, epidemics and natural calamities. The rapid growth of population after independence was the result of declining mortality and near constant fertility. In 1947, the population of the country was 32.5 million and near since then it has risen more than 280 percent. The magnitude of the more recent rise is even more alarming when measured in absolute numbers. About 83 million persons have been added to the population during the last 33 years (1961-94) compared to 26 million added during the last six decades. 

Malthus, a famous economist, gave his famous theory of population. According to him the world population increases in geometric progression like 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. while the resources to meet the demands of the population increase in arithmetic progression like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. So there are more people and less resources in the world. The country is over populated when the average age in low, diseases, epidemics and natural calamities are abundance, excessive unemployment, per capita income is low and the people may be unaware of the luxuries of life, living a very miserable life. 

Pakistan is not thickly populated on the whole and according to 1992 census the total population of Pakistan is 117.32 million, but still the queues of un-employed persons, increase in social crimes, diseases and natural calamities, low per capita income, sub-standard way of living, scarcity of houses, food, education, entertainment and high birth rate are the elements which indicate over-population. Most of the countries particularly Asia and Africa, where the biggest chunk of the world’s population resides, are facing problems due to their steadily growing population. Now, population problem is termed as population bomb or population explosion because of its serious implications. In Pakistan, the problem of population is very acute and grave. 

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The annual rate of increase of population in the country is 3.7 percent and at present with the best efforts of government, it has reduced to 2.7 percent. According to United Nations Development Program (UNDP) one out of every 5 Pakistanis live in absolute poverty. One out of every of 10 does not have access to health services; every second citizen is without access to safe and pure water, more three out of every four are without excess to sanitation. 

In the Holy Quran, Allah Almighty says, “And mother should suckle their children for two whole years. This means that an intervening space of about three years should pass between one pregnancy and another. There are a variety of causes such as poverty, lack of means of entertainment, illiteracy, the influence of Islamic scholers, early age marriages, a polygamy, low death rate and high birth rate due to medical science. 

There are two kinds of proposals to leesen the pressure of over-population: 

i) Increase in production 

ii) Check on population 

To achieve these targets, most modern methods should be utilized to enhance the agricultural production. It is necessary to provide chemical fertilizer, better quality seeds and better facilities in irrigation. There is also a need to change their way of life and thinking. Mineral, forests and other sources may also be exploited fully. Special care and steps should be taken for the uplift of commerce, banking, transportation and communication. 

Equal distribution of wealth and income should also be made possible at all costs so that one may be able to share the fruit of progress. 

Men should be convinced to have less number of children. We should try to make them understand that it has no clash with religious or moral values, newspaper, T.V. radio and other media can play an important role in this respect. Education can play a vital role in making the illiterate people understand the evils of a large number of children. In this connection, special emphasis should be given to women education. The educated women not only like to marry late, but also like to become mother of fewer children. Medicines used for birth control should not be costly and high priced. The number of trained staff should be increased and the childhood marriages should be discouraged.