Up to 33,000 population welfare centres will be established in the country in order to control the population, Federal Minister for Population Welfare Humayoon Aziz Kurd said on Friday. He was addressing a sensitisation seminar on “Population and Development for Population Partners.”

Kurd said that like Iran and Bangladesh, Pakistan needed to control its population and a population growth campaign would have to be started. “Only 10 percent of the population has been provided with relevant facilities and services at their doorstep. Unlike past practices, the focus this time around will be on male partners in order to meet the population targets,” he said.

Kurd emphasised the need to create awareness, especially among people who purposely do not control childbirth based on religious reasons.

Teaching the public about new and modern ideas would help reduce the burden of overpopulation in the country, he maintained.

Sindh Minister for Population Welfare Jam Mehtab Hussain Dhar, and the federal and provincial secretaries were also present on the occasion.