World Population Day marked

FAISALABAD July 21: The University of Agriculture Faisalabad arranged a seminar in connection with World Population Day. The seminar presided over by UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan (S.I) was organized by the Department of Rural Sociology UAF and the Department of Population Welfare at New Senate Hall, UAF . Additional Deputy Commissioner General Qaiser Abbas Rind, former Social Sciences Dean Dr. Ashfaq Maan, District Population Officer Atif Ali, Deputy Population Officer Tayyiba Azam and Muhammad Aslam Saqib from the Auqaf Department also spoke. Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan (S.I) said that the country was facing serious problems due to increasing population and shrinking resources. He said that the population of Bangladesh was higher than that of Pakistan in 70s. But, Bangladesh has controlled the spread of population with the support of effective strategies and religious circles. He said that in 1951, the population of Pakistan was 35 million which has now exceeded 220 million. He said that last year, Pakistan had to import more than 10 billion dollars of food items, which is a matter of concern for an agricultural country. He urged the Ulama and opinion leaders to convince the people about the negative impact of increasing population. Qaiser Abbas Rind said that the district government was following comprehensive policies for the success of population welfare programmes. He said the public cooperation was imperative to control the rapid increase in population. He said that a fast increase in the population was swallowing available resources at a high pace. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmed Maan said that UAF conducts seminars to create awareness. He said that problems like increasing food security and poverty can be reduced only by controlling population expansion. Atif Ali said that the Population Department was taking all possible measures to control the population, for which they were running an awareness campaign.