‘Recognising facts crucial to getting census figures right’

Dubbed a ‘burning question’ time and again, a talk titled ‘Counting on the Census’, held at the Habib University, attempted to address the implications of the enumeration exercise on inter-ethnic relations and resource distribution, writes Zoya Anwer.
Organised by HU’s IDRAC (Interdisciplinary Development Research and Action Centre), the talk’s panellists included vice chancellor Malir University of Science and Technology Prof Mehtab S Karim, feminist researcher Afiya Zia, journalist Badar Alam and academic Dr Haider K Nizamani.
Opening the discussion, Prof Karim explained the importance of census and lamented that Pakistan’s last demographic survey was conducted in 2007. Even the current one reached fruition following Supreme Courts orders, he said.
Explaining a possible phenomenon owing to which a decline was noted in Sindh’s population, in the current as well as the previous census, the academician said it could’ve happened due to a change in fertility rates, ration of migration or the idea that the population was undercounted in the last census of 1998.
According to his calculation, Sindh’s population should have been around 55.8m as compared to the 47.9m; and according to population estimates of world’s largest cities carried out in 2016, Karachi alone is said to have a population of 22.1m.
Exclusion of class, gender
According to Afiya it was important to understand the census in terms of both class and gender, instead of just ethnicity, because working class women are often excluded in such exercises.
“Ethnicity has become perhaps the least stable category in today’s globalised Pakistan, where in fact many gender identities are becoming more mobile and forceful, demanding much more attention,” she said.
Considering past censuses, the number of missing women makes for a bigger debate than the number of missing Sindhis, said the researcher.
“Even more important is the case of FATA, this process should have been all about the area and its missing women,” Afiya believed.
Referring to Prof Karim’s point of a discrepancy in population affecting the allocation of the National Finance Commission Award, the researcher stated that regardless of the size of NFC share allocated to a province, its working class women do not even get to enjoy the award’s ‘trickle down affect’.
Afiya further suggested conducting city based censuses as is being done globally. She pointed out that compared to the census Pakistan’s demographic health survey held more substance for it included an entire chapter on women empowerment and domestic violence.
Afiya also referred to the inclusion of transgender community saying it took 30 years to just include women who worked in the agriculture sector in the census counting. For her, inclusion of transgender community will be a huge political victory. Questioning gender identities paves way for other gender minorities to force the state to acknowledge their presence, she stated.
Reasons of inconsistency
Explaining possible causes of discrepancy, Badar Alam said the presence of a military person alongside every worker may have affected the results.
“As far as providing security to census workers was concerned, it seemed an acceptable idea, to a certain extent though. Then the census authorities went a step further and decided teaming one civilian worker with a military person, so the latter could keep a check on the former,” he said.
This may have led to an unwanted pressure leading to lower counts in some regions. “In many parts of Karachi, one census block was supposed to consist of 250 households, but when the enumerators began the exercise it turned out that most of them comprised over 700 households.
In some areas census workers protested, calling for the number of blocks to be raised in accordance with the number of households, but in areas where this discrepancy wasn’t highlighted the number of blocks remained the same,” Badar added.
He said it was exactly this discrepancy that had resulted in 2012’s census being suspended midway, after completion of the house count. “A certain party was interested in increasing numbers in its constituency,” said the journalist.
“So let’s say we keep the military out if it, there would still be someone else with a political or ethnic or economic objective trying to forge numbers,” he concluded. However, for Dr Nizamani it weren’t just the technical reasons that affected the census, rather there were many political aspects too that hampered the process.
“As far as Sindh is concerned the story has been the same since 1936, and more so since 1947 after the Partition. For Sindh the census is always about more than just a headcount owing to its 70-year-old history of mistrust between the enumerator and the enumerated.”