Mayor questions authenticity of census results

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar has rejected the results of the last held population census, claiming that records from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) showed the population of Karachi to be over 25 million.

He said this while talking to a delegation of trainee officers in the Civil Services Academy led by its director Asim Iqbal who called on Akhtar at the KMC head office, according to a press statement issued by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation on Tuesday.

Talking to the delegation, Akhtar said the population of Karachi could not be this less, adding they went to the court, challenging the results of the census. To eliminate hatred, everything should be done fairly and on the basis of merit in Karachi.

He said the local governments were not recognised as the third tier of the government in Pakistan, therefore, they had always refrained from holding local government elections.

The mayor said no improvement could be brought in the country until local bodies were strengthened. The head of the delegation presented a shield to Akhtar and a memento was presented to the delegation by the mayor.