Population House to be completed by March next, says Shahbaz
By Adnan Rafique

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Population Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain Thursday said his ministry’s new building complex will be completed by March- April next year costing Rs 102.984 million.
Speaking here at a news conference at the under construction site called ‘Population House’, the minister was hopeful that some of the offices will be shifted to the new place by December this year. “The pace of construction has remained very good as the contractors have been working to our satisfaction,” he said while taking a round of the site.
The construction work was hampered considerably after last year’s devastating earthquake as the structure was re-designed conforming to the building-code in Zone-III of the earthquake. “The cost of the project increased only nominally as the building now needed to be reinforced with more steel and concrete mix,” Chaudhry Shahbaz added.
The building, land which was allocated to the ministry in early 1990s and actually acquired in 2004, consists of three block - A, B and C - having a total covered area of 73,461 square feet. It consists of ground and two floors with provision for additional four more floors.
Chaudhry Shahbaz said the building will have provision for all the necessary facilities including auditorium, training centre, library and conference rooms. He said special facilities for disabled persons will also be provided in the building.
The minister was of the view that the working of the ministry will improve considerably once all its offices are shifted to the new premises which are presently scattered at different places in the capital. Replying to a question Chaudhry Shahbaz said after the successful holding of Ulema Conference in Islamabad this year, the ministry is planning to hold a similar international women scholars conference.
He informed that from November 20 to 21 an international conference on ‘best practices in population control in the world’ will be held in the capital. “This conference is part of our awareness campaign about population control in the country which has been in full swing for the last two years,” he added.
The minister expressed his satisfaction that the message of population welfare and control was reaching the 70 percent of the population which resides in rural areas. “Our message will reach even a larger population once the training of female scholars is completed within the next six months,” he informed.
Similarly, he added, the ministry was training ‘male mobilisers’ in rural areas who will educate the masses about the benefits of smalle-sized families. He said a summary to increase the honorarium of trained Ulema, who are part of government’s awareness campaign on population, from Rs 1500 is with the prime minister.
Chaudhry Shahbaz however, did not give the increased figure which he said was suggested by the provincial chief ministers. He said the ministry has trained some 13,000 ulema and the number will reach 25,000 by the end of this financial year.
“Our campaign (for population awareness) will get a considerable boost when they start working once their revised honorarium is approved,” he said. In response to a question about the monitoring of the NGOs, and their funds, working in the population sector, he said the task will be carried out by the National Trust for Population Welfare (NATPOW) which has been recently revived.
The NATPOW, which will have a 12-member board consisting of professionals associated with population planning, remained suspended for the last five years. The minister said once the board starts working, the ministry will be in a better position of monitoring and evaluating the performance of different NGOs.
He said no NGO in the population sector for the last two years has been given any funds by the ministry.