FATA students want a separate column for TDPS

Students urged government to include a separate column for the Temporarily Displaced Persons in the census forms

PESHAWAR: Students from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) on Friday urged the government to include a separate column for the Temporarily Displaced Persons in the census forms, as majority of the tribesmen are not living in their hometown.

Addressing a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Fata Students Organisation’s (FSO) Central President Shaukat Aziz said that millions of TDPs have been residing across the country due to the unrest in the tribal areas.



He added that as the government has been conducting census on the basis of where people are living, either permanent or on a temporary basis, and since they are displaced the census will not project the real picture of the tribal areas population.

He lamented that the census on temporary residence basis and without a permanent address will lead to the provision of minimum resources for the tribal areas.



Aziz said, “This exclusion will also affect Fata’s share in the National Finance Commission, provision of seats in national and provincial assemblies as more than 70 per cent of the area’s population is not living in their hometown.”

The FSO leader demanded that the government and other stakeholders should include either a column for TDPs or the count should be based on the permanent address of the citizens.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2017.