Pakistan

Order of the day: an updated census

The question rises as to why the present and the previous governments have failed to hold the census on time

Salman Siddiqui September 17, 2016

We are quite the unfortunate nation to keep delaying the sixth population census for what is considerably a long time now. The delayed population count has almost denied the formation of the ninth NFC award — as the issue of overpopulation continues to carry the heaviest weight in the formula of distribution of federal resources among the four provinces and the Centre itself.

The provinces have, however, developed consensus for the formation of the next NFC award in the absence of the much-needed updated population census last week. This disappointing occurrence, obviously is not leading us in the right direction, resulting in the failure of the federation to distribute the collected revenues on justified grounds under the new award.

The demography of the country would have most certainly changed drastically since the last population census was held. And yet the government is delaying the census. Sadly, the reasons are not at all clear.

The migration from rural to urban centres in search of bread and butter, the possible decline in birth rates and variation in rates of deaths must have dramatically reformed the population sizes of the provinces, so it only makes sense to have these records on file. Likewise, the relocation of industries from the province of Sindh to the province of Punjab would have altered the load of tax collection in the NFC award formula. Amid this scenario, the other two provinces; the K-P and Balochistan may continue to remain the overlooked areas of the country.

The question rises as to why the present and the previous governments have failed to hold the census on time if keeping a record of it holds such great significance. The answer is not simple. The results of an up-to-date, modernised census would, in fact, challenge the status quo of the current political setup in the country. It would impact the constituencies of each and every political party. In effect, it may radically modify the political landscape in the country. Therefore, there is a great need of political will for a positive variation to transpire.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2016.