30% of Sindh population without CNICs, CM told

NADRA representative tells Sindh cabinet that only 22.4m people issued identity cards in province

KARACHI: More than 30% of the above-18 population of Sindh does not have computerised national identity cards (CNICs) which can delay the census scheduled for March 15, the Sindh cabinet was informed on Monday.

The National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) has only issued CNICs to 22.4 million people in the province so far, NADRA representative Sohail Ahmed told the cabinet members during a meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at CM House. "Apart from this, 3.3 million people are registered as under 18 years old," he added.

Since this discrepancy can delay the upcoming census, Shah directed NADRA officials to send mobile CNIC processing vans to rural and urban areas and register the remaining population.



"We are told that Karachi has over 20 million people," pointed out Pakistan Peoples Party parliamentary minister Nisar Khuhro, adding that it seems like a large number of people will not be covered in the census.

NADRA's Ahmed shared that they have 30 mobile vans to process CNICs and they will send 13 of them to areas where people do not have their identity cards. However, most of the ministers and advisers present at the meeting demanded more vans, pointing out that 13 vans will not be able to cover the leftover population within the next two months.

Local government minister Jam Khan Shoro wanted to know how many cards a van can process. "Each mobile van can only process up to 100 CNICs a day," Ahmed responded. At this rate, one van can only make 3,000 cards in a month so please arrange for more van, said the chief minister.

NADRA also informed the cabinet that 15,000 people in Sindh have not collected their CNICs so they will be discarded soon. Shah advised Ahmed to try to deliver these cards to the relevant people. "My divisional and district administration can support you if you provide a list of such cards," he offered.

Legal and political impact

The chief minister shared the legal and political impact of the census, saying that it provides a basis for political representation in the assemblies, delimitation of constituencies, distribution of funds from the divisible pool and determination of quota for recruitment in federal civil service. Therefore, each and every one must be counted, and foreigners and illegal immigrants be excluded, he said.

During his briefing, the provincial census commissioner said the country has had five official censuses - in 1951, 1961, 1972, 1981 and 1998. The next one was due in 2008 but kept getting delayed until now.

One army personnel will accompany each enumerator and independently record the number of each household, the chief minister was told. The teams will also record the CNIC number of each head of the household for verification.

Vigilance teams formed at the district level will monitor the teams and ensure complete coverage. They will report to the coordination committees formed at the provincial, district and census district level.

Missing religions, languages

During the session, minister Manzoor Wassan pointed out that only six religions and 10 languages are mentioned in the census form - Zoroastrians have been missed and Gujrati, Kathiawari and other local languages have not been included.

Shah pointed out that the mother tongue of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was Gujarati and should have been included in the form. It would have also helped us count how many Zoroastrians live in Sindh, he said, directing the chief secretary to take up the issue with the federal government.

There is no provision of counting gypsies in the census, pointed out MPA Dr Khatu Mal Jewan. The chief statistician told him that they will be counted as homeless persons.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2017.