Lahore Division

Lahore | ReNews Pakistan Experts have warned that Pakistan’s population challenge is not limited to family planning, but is increasingly linked with rapid urban expansion, shrinking agricultural land, water scarcity, food security and growing pressure on basic urban infrastructure. Continued population growth is expected to increase demand for housing, water supply, sanitation, transport, healthcare and education in expanding cities. The issue was discussed at a meeting of the Media Coalition on Population organised by the National Population Council in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on “The Role of Media in Informed Action for Population Balance.” More than 30 journalists from national, provincial and regional media organisations participated in the meeting. Dr Ali Mir, Country Director of the Population Council, said the population issue was not confined to a single sector and was directly connected with water scarcity, rapid urban expansion, declining agricultural land, food insecurity, malnutrition, and the health and education of women and children. He noted that per capita agricultural land in Pakistan has declined by around 80% since 1965. He stressed that the relationship between population growth and increasingly limited resources must become part of the national development debate. Experts said rapid and unplanned urban expansion could accelerate the conversion of agricultural land into residential and commercial areas while increasing the need for investment in water supply, sewerage, roads, public transport, healthcare, education and other essential infrastructure. They emphasised that population planning should therefore be integrated with long term urban development and infrastructure planning so that growing cities can meet future demands for housing and public services. The federal government is pursuing family planning under the National Population Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, as part of a broader development agenda linking population planning with healthcare, education, better opportunities for young people, women’s economic participation, skills development and social protection. Kazim Salman, Deputy Chief Population at the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, said the National Population Council includes the chief ministers of all four provinces, the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan and key federal ministers. The Planning Commission will serve as the council’s secretariat. According to Salman, the government views population welfare as a balance between rights and responsibilities and is linking family planning with wider social and economic development. The meeting also discussed barriers faced by low income women in accessing family planning services, the role of the newly established National Population Council and the media’s role in monitoring implementation of the government’s population welfare strategy. Experts stressed that addressing Pakistan’s population challenge should go beyond reducing population growth. Future planning must also account for the expansion of cities and the growing demand for housing, water, food, transport, healthcare, education and other essential infrastructure.

Lahore | ReNews Pakistan The Punjab government has prepared a major revision to the eligibility criteria for the “Apna Khet, Apna Rozgar” scheme to ensure that deserving applicants are not excluded due to the absence of poverty scores in official databases. Under the proposed mechanism, 31,505 applicants whose poverty scores are not available in either the Punjab Socio-Economic Registry (PSER) or the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) will be assessed through a separate personal economic evaluation process. According to official documents, the scheme received a total of 271,015 applications. Of these, records of 210,777 applicants were found in the PSER, while another 28,740 applicants were registered in the NSER. As a result, poverty scores are available for 239,510 applicants, whereas 31,505 applicants have no poverty score recorded in either registry. To prevent deserving landless applicants from being excluded because of missing poverty data, the Board of Revenue has developed a new personal economic assessment form. Under the proposed criteria, applicants with a poverty score of 32 or below in the PSER or NSER will qualify for the scheme. Applicants whose poverty scores are unavailable will instead undergo a field assessment to determine their economic condition. Those securing 23 or below in the field survey have also been proposed for eligibility under the scheme. Sources said the Finance Department had raised concerns regarding the transparency of the personal economic assessment process, including the authority responsible for conducting the surveys and the mechanism for verifying the collected data. Following the department’s directions, field teams conducted surveys of the applicants under the supervision of deputy commissioners, while the information collected was subsequently verified at the district level. According to the Board of Revenue, the personal economic assessment form was developed in consultation with the Punjab Social Protection Authority and the Punjab Land Records Authority. After the Board clarified the proposed mechanism, the Finance Department also endorsed the amendment. Officials said the revised eligibility mechanism is aimed at bringing deserving landless applicants into the scheme who may otherwise have been excluded because their poverty data was not available in the government’s official socioeconomic registries.

Lahore | ReNews Pakistan The Punjab government has accelerated efforts to introduce modern technology into the agriculture sector, with a focus on improving productivity, making more efficient use of resources and supporting better decision-making by farmers. Advisor to the Chief Minister Punjab Ali Dar said that aligning the agriculture sector with artificial intelligence has become one of the government’s key priorities. He said AI based solutions would be used to improve agricultural productivity, optimize the use of available resources and strengthen decision-making in the farming sector. According to Ali Dar, the use of artificial intelligence can help farmers better understand market conditions and make more informed decisions regarding their agricultural activities and produce. The technology could also contribute to improving the efficiency with which water, inputs and other agricultural resources are utilized. He said the government was working to connect modern technology directly with the interests of farmers and the wider public rather than limiting its use to institutional or administrative purposes. The expansion of AI into agriculture is part of this broader approach to ensure that the benefits of technology reach the farming community. The initiative comes at a time when improving agricultural productivity, efficient resource management and timely decision-making have become increasingly important for the farming sector. Better access to market information and technology-based analysis can help farmers respond more effectively to changing market conditions. The government believes that the use of artificial intelligence and other modern technologies can help make agricultural decision-making more efficient, improve productivity and provide farmers with better tools to respond to market trends and changing requirements.