SC orders govt, civil society and religious scholars to tackle population growth

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday in its verdict on a suo motu case related to the country’s burgeoning population growth ordered the government, civil society and religious scholars to tackle the issue.

A three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, announced the verdict on the case. The apex court had taken suo motu notice of the explosive increase in the country’s population back in July last year.

Declaring the burgeoning population a stress on the country's resources, the court termed the increase in the population an “explosion” and said there is a need to launch a nationwide campaign to tackle the issue.

According to the 2017 census, Pakistan’s population is approximately 207,774,520, making it the world’s fifth most populous nation only behind India, China, the United States and Indonesia.

The apex court, in its verdict, observed that the increasing population is a question mark on the future generations and the entire nation needs to be united in tackling population growth.