A ticking bomb... By Salman
11 September, 2012
Media and politicians always talk about corruption, terrorism, militancy, economy, employment, inflation, load shedding, education, law and order, etc. Sadly, no one talks about our biggest problem: overpopulation. We have one of the highest birth rates in the world, but we do not care about it, and this is the only problem for which we cannot blame the Indians and Americans. It is not on the agenda of any of the big parties while they are waiting to take over the reins of the country. Just imagine, if we were today just 100 million instead of 180 million people, I am sure that the problems I have mentioned above would have been of minor concern. Overpopulation is the actual reason for all the problems in Pakistan. The next government must develop a strategy to bring the birthrate down to one percent during its tenure. No matter how much progress and development takes place in the country, overpopulation will never let us prosper. Pakistan has wavered off the road so much that any normal or palliative measures cannot bring us back on track. We need drastic changes. The next government must change the law of evidence for corruption, murder, acid attacks, terrorism, militancy, abduction, rape, kidnapping and attacks on life and property of all citizens and the state. Presumed innocent until proved guilty should become 'guilty until he proves his or her innocence'. And all of these cases must be finished in three or four weeks so that people can see the effect of this change. To kick-start the economy, the State Bank of Pakistan must come up with a policy that the spread of the banks must be limited to a maximum of three percent. Banks in Pakistan have a huge spread of profit running into 10 or more percent that discourages people from borrowing money in the first place. Those who do borrow are unable to return the borrowed money because of very harsh terms of the loans and become defaulters. This step will help entrepreneurship; small/medium enterprises create new businesses and jobs, will improve taxation, spread education, wealth and prosperity. The new government will have to take a number of measures, but, in my opinion, these three measures taken simultaneously will put the country back on the path of progress. SALMAN MUNIR
Karachi
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