Areas with abnormal growth...: Minister asks census teams to complete task by 15th

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal directed the provincial governments on Sunday to complete field verification/ coverage of 7th population and housing census till May 15, 2023 in the areas where population growth was not found in line with normal demographic trends and close the field operation in all areas exhibiting natural trends.

In pursuance of the 12th meeting of the census monitoring committee and meeting with demographers and political parties, a follow-up meeting was held on April 30, with where population growth is not in line with demographic trends till May 15.

The meeting was chaired by Minister Ahsan Iqbal to discuss the nomenclature for completion of fieldwork of the 7th Population and Housing Census by May 15, 2023, a PBS news release said.

Ahsan Iqbal emphasised that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had taken strict notice of the repeated extensions of field enumeration activities; therefore, targeted verification and enumeration operations should be carried out in areas with abnormal population growth, where gaps had already been highlighted using the digital systems architected by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) for the first-ever digital census.

He stressed that special efforts should be made in urban areas of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to counter issues of under coverage and low coverage. A uniform data-driven policy must be adopted to conclude the field enumeration in all provinces.

Strict monitoring of fieldwork and daily sharing of progress with the PBS headquarters for onward submission to Minister PD&SI must be adopted to fill the gaps and successfully conclude this exercise.

He shared that along with under-enumeration, the digital system had also identified over-counting and cases where census exercise had been manipulated or tampered, which resulted in abnormal trends.

He directed the teams to address such cases strictly to avoid such incidences in future. He once again stressed completion of the exercise on May 15, 2023 for timely handing over of data to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Secretary PD&SI Zafar Ali Shah informed the PBS and stakeholders to redouble their efforts to complete the exercise till May 15 and adopt a uniform policy in all blocks throughout the country to complete the exercise.

Chief Census Commissioner Dr Naeemuz-Zafar presented the latest updates and recommendations for completion of the exercise within the stipulated time period.

It was decided in the meeting that field operation should specifically focus on verification/ coverage of leftover areas in Punjab (33 districts), Sindh (eight districts), KP (nine districts), Balochistan (three districts) and ICT along with verification exercise in specific areas.

Further, to conclude the exercise within the stipulated time, PBS higher management would hold series of meetings starting with chief commissioner Islamabad on May 1, with provincial government of Punjab on May 2, KP on 3rd, Sindh on 4th and Balochistan on May 5 and provide details of target areas showing negative growth, non-living units, single person/two persons’ households to districts for successful completion of task.