Census will unveil bitter facts: expert

A demographic expert has opined that certain elements in Pakistan keep resisting the population census as it is perceived as a threat to their vested interests. Dr Tahir Jamil, a renowned academician and expert in social sciences during a special lecture on 'Demographic Transition in Pakistan: Challenges and Opportunities,' organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Monday, said that national census has been kept thwarted by vested interests and authorities should not give any heed to such elements.
Jamil said census would reveal the true picture about the province and locality-wise population and hence would affect the redistribution of national resources through National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. He added, "Unfortunately we have become a nation that has a total disregard to data and information. Hence, we are failing to develop and design policies according to real needs of the different segments of society. We have lost huge opportunity that our youth bulge has been offering since last 20 years."
Dr Jamil further said, "If we are still not coming up with proper policies to capitalise them in future, it would not remain available to us after next twenty years." He suggested that provision of quality education and data based planning are the only ways to remain relevant in this competitive world in the coming years. With the help of his detailed presentation, Jamil said that the economic growth could be found as a function of demographic transition as it provides the basis for the maximum use of the population's potential.
He explained that the demographic dividend is not itself an economic benefit but provides an opportunity to reap the economic benefits resulting because of it. To materialise such a demographic shift into economic benefit, a well thought economic planning is needed to boast the public health education and to provide a suitable environment for saving and investment, he added.
Jamil said that Pakistan's economic development, health condition and education system are not encouraging because of imbalanced population growth. He suggested that the fundamental challenge for a political government is to stabilise the level of population in order to the increase the productivity.