PHOTO: PAKISTAN TODAY
The decision was taken on Friday in a crucial huddle of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the chair. The meeting decided that the census would be carried out in two phases. The house-listing and headcount would be carried out in ‘one go’ and each phase would be carried out in all provinces simultaneously.
“The census will be carried out in close coordination with the provincial governments,” said a Prime Minister House statement issued after the meeting. “A committee comprising secretary statistics and the four chief secretaries will address all implementation issues,” it added.
Last month, Law Minister Zahid Hamid told the Senate that the population census was not possible before March next year and that the issue would be taken up in the CCI’s upcoming meeting. Earlier in June, the minister had informed the upper house that the census would be held “either in November this year or March next year if the conditions allowed”.
The CCI had given the go-ahead for the population census last year but the decision was deferred in CCI’s meeting in February this year. The exercise, Zahid Hamid said, requires the services of as many as 358,000 military troops.
After the apex court took strong exception to the continued delay in the census that was last held in 1998, the government gave a written assurance to the apex court that it would conduct the exercise on April 15 next year. But on the court’s instructions, it has now decided to move the timeframe up to March 15, 2017.
The delay in the census implied that Pakistan did not have any record of the exact number of its citizens, which has been adversely affecting the economy. The delay also violated the Constitution, which makes a national headcount mandatory every 10 years.
In Friday’s CCI meeting, K-P and Sindh also strongly pressed for their demands which include prioritising the CPEC western route and providing pending funds payable to provinces, officials said. According to them, K-P Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak took up the non-payment of more than Rs300 billion owed to the province since last year. He also raised the issue of Afghan refugees’ repatriation and delay in Fata reforms implementation.
A source told The Express Tribune that Khattak opposed the extension in registered refugees’ stay till December 31 next year. Reportedly, the premier told Khattak that a formal decision on the extension had not been made yet and would be taken after considering input from all stakeholders, including K-P authorities.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also raised the issue of payment of over Rs150 billion by the centre to Sindh under different heads.
Officials quoted Premier Nawaz as assuring the two chief ministers that the funding issues would be resolved on priority. However, sources believe funding constraints are likely to linger as the federal government is faced with serious funds’ shortage.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, K-P Chief Minister’s Political Coordinator Zar Gul Khan confirmed that Khattak raised issues concerning CPEC, payment of overdue funds and Afghan refugees’ repatriation in the meeting.
“The PM has assured the chief minister that the pending funds would be paid, not at once but phase-wise. Still, it’s good news that at least the premier has made a commitment. Let’s see how far he goes to honour his pledge.”
Khan said the prime minister also assured the K-P chief minister that provinces’ reservations regarding CPEC will be looked into and the issue would be resolved amicably. In this regard, meetings would be held between provincial and federal authorities concerned in future.
The K-P government wants early repatriation of Afghan refugees due to economic constraints and security reasons, the political coordinator added.
The Prime Minister House statement said the agenda item pertaining to establishing the National Security Fund was referred to the National Finance Commission. CCI also approved National Forest Policy in principle. It ratified that the payment of net hydel profit of Rs38.12 billion to the Punjab government would be settled by issuance of irrevocable promissory note of one year duration to govt of Punjab by December 2016. The balance of Rs44.59 billion will be paid in three equal installments after tariff determination by CCI/NEPRA.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2016.
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