We got late because maps misled us, says enumerator in Karachi

Census exercise gets delayed in District East, enumerators face problems

KARACHI: Bismillah Cantt House was the starting point on the map provided to enumerator Naseem Sultan. However, he was unable to locate it. “With the help of locals, I finally reach alHilal Milk Shop in Gulshan 13-D, which was [my] actual starting point, at around 2pm,” he said, adding that the maps were misguiding them, which is why the exercise got delayed.

On Wednesday, census exercise began considerably late in District East, which has 75 charges, 478 circles and 2,832 blocks. Many teams complained that the maps provided to them had wrong locations mentioned. The field staff could be seen using Google Maps on their own smartphones to find the correct locations.



In Pir Bukhari Colony, a katchi settlement behind Old Sabzimandi, an enumerator was roaming about with her team with visibly annoyed expressions on her face and a map in her hands. It was 3pm and she had no idea from where she was supposed to start the house count. She inquired from a shopkeeper, pointing towards a red line on the map, about her starting point but all in vain. A Rangers official stood firm behind her and the army personnel began helping her in her search for the location.

Exasperated

Wearing a green vest over her black burka, enumerator Furqana knocked hard on a huge gate in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Her team was accompanied by a Pakistan Army soldier, a Rangers official and a policeman. She knocked repeatedly but nobody answered. She moved to another house. "This is the problem in affluent areas,” she complained. “They simply don't answer."



Pencil over pen

A female enumerator was caught filling the house listing form in pencil in District East. When confronted by the media, she replied, "I am using pencil to avoid any errors. Later, I will rewrite this in pen when I submit these things." When she was reminded of government rules that no enumerator should use pencil, she said she cannot change anything because ‘army is with us’.

When contacted for his version about the issue, East Deputy Commissioner Nadim Abro, who also works as the census district commissioner, said he has no idea about it and will look into the matter. "During the training of enumerators, we had given them strict instructions that no one can use pencil," he said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of union council (UC)-5 in Mehmoodabad, Sajid Dabir, wrote a letter to the district session officer about the use of pencil in filling the forms. Responding to this, Abro said he will look into the matter and take action if someone is found involved in such activity.