According to a report in Dawn, Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir is now expected to play a role in driving the country’s population control efforts, adding another responsibility to his expanding portfolio.Already functioning as Pakistan’s de facto powerhouse, Munir has moved beyond his traditional role of commanding the armed forces to play a major role in Islamabad’s foreign policy and strategic decision-making. Pakistan has long relied on its military and top generals to shoulder responsibilities beyond defence, with the armed forces playing an influential role in governance, diplomacy and policy making.According to a report in Dawn, he has been included in a high-level committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to address the issue. This was revealed by Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal during a joint meeting of two Senate committees to discuss population policy and human rights.The report said the committee is examining measures to slow Pakistan’s population growth, with Munir joining senior ministers responsible for finance, planning and health, Dawn reported.Addressing a joint meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services and the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Thursday, Kamal said the Prime Minister has called several high-level meetings on population management.He said Field Marshal Munir was among the members of the newly formed committee.“The government is taking this issue with top priority and important policy decisions are being taken at every level,” the minister told MPs, according to Dawn.The meeting, jointly chaired by Senators Amir Waliuddin Chishti and Samina Mumtaz Zahari, focused on Pakistan’s growing population and possible policy reforms.Pakistan is currently the fifth most populous country in the world and is projected to overtake Indonesia to become the fourth most populous country by 2030.Kamal said population management would require both government intervention and public participation.He argued that the existing National Finance Commission (NFC) award formula discouraged provinces from reducing population growth because resource allocation was heavily linked to population size.“If a province succeeds in reducing its population growth, its NFC share is reduced, while a province with a larger population gets more money,” he said.Also read: Pakistan claims that 88 terrorists were killed in the ongoing operation in Balochistan.The minister proposed to reduce the population component of the NFC formula from 82 per cent to 50 per cent.Kamal also blamed limited access to contraceptives for Pakistan’s high birth rate and said that contraceptive products are now tax exempted.He said about 6.7 million births are recorded every year in Pakistan and estimated that widespread access to family planning could reduce the annual population growth by about 1.5 million people.MPs questioned whether population welfare would remain a federal subject after the 18th constitutional amendment.The minister confirmed that responsibility has been devolved to the provinces, while representatives of the Law Ministry said that Parliament cannot legislate on matters specifically assigned to provincial governments.A representative of the Council of Islamic Ideology told the meeting that there was no sectarian disagreement on measures to address rapid population growth.According to Dawn, the Senate committee directed the law ministry, religious scholars and relevant parliamentary committees to hold consultations to develop a consensus-based strategy on population management.Another joint meeting is expected to be held in the coming days as the government continues to discuss reforms to address Pakistan’s demographic challenges.