1. Population Growth:
In mid – 1986, Pakistan’s population is estimated at 97.67 million, making it the ninth most populous country in the world.
More over, the population is growing at the natural rate of 3.20 per cent par year, but with substantial emigration abroad, resident population has been growing at 3.06 per cent per year.
(Both rates are the highest in South Asia, and among the highest in comparable Muslim countries).
The rate of growth of population has accelerated since the beginning of the century. From around 1.8 per cent per year in the 1930’s and the 1940’s population growth accelerated after 1950, as the crude death rate (C D R) per thousand declined from 18.7 in 1947, to 17 in 1962, to join 1984, while the crude.
2. Health:
Health is comprehensive concept which includes not only freedom from communicable and other diseases, but also the availability of facilities from maternity and child care. The infrastructure of the health sector, covers the establishment of hospitals, basic heal units and rural health centres, and the staffing of these units with adequate numbers of doctors, dispensers, nurses, medical technicians, lady health visitors and mid wives.
Although process in the provision of health services has been faster than education, there is still considerable room for improvement. Indicators both on health in for a structure and on expenditure on health, available for recent years, provide evidence to this effect. At present, less than one per cent of G N P is spent on health. In 1985 – 86 only 4.5 per cent of total public expenditure was allocated to the health sector. Even today, there is one public doctor for 3,400 persons one public hospital for 1.5 Lakh persons and one hospital bed for 1,760 persons.
Primary health care fact facilities other than hospital are offered by 2.468 basic health units (BHUS), 455 rural health centres (RHCS), 869 maternity child health (MCHS) centres 3,994 dispensaries and 632 sub centres. Along with public health facilities, some health facilities are made available by the private hospitals with 1.300 hospital are beyond the access of most of the population. These factors are reflected in the high rates of infant mentality (95 per thousand) and low life expeatancy in comparigion to other countries.
3. Rural Development:
The rural areas are much behind the urban area in the availability of almost all social services and civic amunities. This call for special attention to rural up lift.
Several rural up lift programme such as the village AID programme (1950’s), Rural works programme (1969’s), peoples works programme (1972 – 77 were introduced in the past, but these programmes have not been very fruitful because of shortage of skilled labour delays in the reales of funds, poor maintenance, poor communication in many parts of the rural areas, lack of coordination between various administrative agencies and misuse of funds. Besides, most of the programmes had little or no participation of the local people.
In order to accelerate the process of improvement in the economic, education and social spheres and given priority to the present government has initiated a Five Point Programme for the next four years. The main objective of this programme is the establishment of an economic system based on the principal on social Justice which benefits the poor and helps in developing the under developed areas and classics of society. Naturally, this cells for special emphasis on rural development programmes. The economic and social programme of the five – point programmes specially covers.
4. Housing:
In addition to the availability of health services and nutrition, a community needs a hygienic living conditions. The provision of better housing, clean water and sewerage facilities is the result of defective sanitation.
The estimated shortage of houses in Pakistan work out to be over 3 million units (1.4 million in the urban areas) which amount to roughly 25 percent of the total households in a country. An other manifestation of the rapid worsening of the housing situation has been the increases in the number of sium/katchi abadi dwellers in urban areas. It is estimated that about 25 percent of the urban population of Karachi lives in souch Kachi abadis.
The solution of the problem is not simple. Merelooy increasing the supply of houses many not work. What is required in addition, is to enhance the capacity of the poorer sections of the society to acquired housing units. This calls for long – term planning and more effective public intervation to cover the development of plot schemes for law income persons, provision of loans for construction of law and middle class category houses, and enhancing the funds allocated for accelerating the work on the water supply and sewerage schemes. Work on these lines has already been started and considerable in proment has been achieved. The grant of proprietary right for the dwellers of Katchi abadi announced by the prime minister on April 7, 1986 and imitation of the 7 Marla scheme by the Punjab Government will serve as on effective instrument is attaining self sufficiency in housing.
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