Census concerns

The census is already overdue by many years and we simply cannot afford to wait any longer.

The government has reportedly decided that after a 15-year gap, a population census should be held in the country. This is very good news. While the Constitution dictates a census every four years, this has, in recent decades, proved to be a virtually impossible task. A number of ethnic, lingual and political factors mean that simply counting the people of the country has become a task around which all kinds of complications have been wrapped.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, after studying a summary presented to him by the Inter-Provincial Coordination Division and a separate document from the Election Commission of Pakistan, decided to go ahead with the census. We must hope the exercise will be a success. It is after all essential, as the ECP has pointed out, not only to the carrying out of delimitations but also to planning and resource allocation. Without proper information as to where people live in the country, who they are or where population sizes have grown the most, it is obviously hard to move ahead in any decisive or meaningful fashion. The long gap between the census held in 1981 and then in 1998 led to a great many problems which were pointed out by planners on numerous occasions. We cannot afford more. This is especially true as our population has grown at around 2.3 per cent a year, meaning that all kinds of alterations in demographics may have occurred unseen and unnoted.

This is unacceptable. The decision to go ahead with the census is, therefore, very welcome. The next priority must be to ensure it is conducted in a manner that can lead to as little controversy as possible. The best way to do this is by following all the required rules, such as  convening a meeting of the Council of Common Interests. The opposition has already pointed out this has not happened as yet. A well-conducted census would take us a long way forward. It is already overdue by many years and we simply cannot afford to wait any longer.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2013.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.