CJP Nisar set to fight rapid population growth

MANCHESTER - Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Saturday announced to launch an awareness drive to fight the growing population in the country from next month.

Addressing a fund-raising event in Manchester, the increasing population is a sensitive issue that needs to be addressed timely. He hoped that the public will put weight behind his drive.

The chief justice headed to the UK on a week-long trip on Tuesday to raise funds for Diamer Bhasha and Mohmand Dams.

The campaign will be launched from December 12 or 13 in which awareness will be created, highlighting the significance of having the small families.

The top judge vowed to start the awareness campaign from his own family and advise his children the same.

The total population of Pakistan is 20,774,520, according to figures by National Bureau of Statistics available for 163,541 census blocks across the country.

Federal Minister for Statistics Kamran Michael on Thursday chaired a session on sixth census conducted last year.

According to the official data:

In Punjab, 110,012,442 people live in 87,006 blocks

In Sindh, 47,886,051 people live in 39,139 blocks

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 30,523,371 live in 21,577 blocks

In Balochistan, 12,344,408 people live in 10,207 blocks

In Islamabad, 2,006,572 people live in 1,514 blocks

In Fata, 5,001,676 people live in 4,098 blocks

During the briefing, Kamran Michael said that all the necessary records related to the census should be provided to the Election Commission. He hoped that the Commission will soon complete work on delimitation on the basis of census records.

Sixth most populous nation

According to the Word Bank, Pakistan is the sixth most populous country following China, India, USA, Indonesia and Brazil.

The country's population was just over 130 million in 1998, the year when the 5th census had been conducted. The compound annual growth rate for the population since 1998 turns out to be 2.4pc, well above the global average. Female population is 101.3 million or 48.76pc.