Govt pins hopes on Field Marshal Munir to tackle population growth

Islamabad: After failing to control population growth for over three years, the federal government has pinned hopes on Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to help curb the population growth rate.

This was disclosed by Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal during a joint meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services and the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights. The meeting, chaired by Senators Amir Waliuddin Chishti and Samina Mumtaz Zehri, was called to discuss Pakistan’s growing population and the need for coordinated policy reforms.

The minister said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had convened multiple high-level meetings on population management and constituted a committee to address the issue. He said Field Marshal Munir is also a member of that committee, reflecting the seriousness the government is attaching to the problem. He added that the finance and planning ministers are also part of the group, and emphasized that population management requires both government action and public participation.

Kamal argued that the current National Finance Commission (NFC) Award formula—under which 82% of resource distribution is linked to population—can unintentionally incentivize provinces to have higher population growth. He proposed that only 50% of the NFC formula should be linked to population.

He said one driver behind high birth rates is limited access to contraceptives. He noted that tax exemptions have been granted on contraceptive products and said Pakistan records around 6.7 million births annually, adding that wider access to family planning could reduce annual population growth by about 1.5 million people.

Committee members questioned whether population welfare is still a devolved subject following the 18th Constitutional Amendment. The minister confirmed that the subject has been transferred to provinces, and lawmakers said federal decisions cannot be imposed on provinces after devolution.

The committee called for legislation to curb unchecked population growth, but the Ministry of Law representative told the meeting that parliament cannot legislate on matters exclusively devolved to provinces. A representative of the Council of Islamic Ideology said there is no sectarian disagreement on measures to address rapid population growth. The committee directed the Ministry of Law, religious scholars, and relevant parliamentary committees to consult to develop a consensus-based strategy, with another joint meeting expected soon.