Population Census 2011: Army excuses itself from census
Security personnel will respond to distress calls by census-takers in sensitive areas.
ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Army has refused to participate in the sixth population census, due to its engagement in the war against terrorism in tribal areas and Balochistan, said a senior official of the Population Census Organisation (PCO).
“Army personnel will only respond to distress calls of enumerators in case they face resistance in sensitive areas of the state,” said the official.
The Statistics Division of Pakistan had officially requested for some 0.2 million soldiers, including officers, for 15 days, to provide security cover to the field staff as well as for the collection of questionnaires.
PCO officials believe the support of the uniformed personnel would allow the enumerators to work without security concerns and complete their work in the stipulated time.
Secretary Statistics Division Asif Bajwa said the Pakistan Army, Rangers, Frontier Constabulary, Levies and other paramilitary forces have guaranteed to offer support to the survey teams.
He ruled out any resistance from miscreants in volatile areas of the country, especially in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and tribal areas. “When I visited Balochistan this week, people said they would extend their full cooperation to the census crew,” he added.
The main census operations, i.e. the head-counting, will start on October 6 while the preparation for it, including the retrieval of summary sheets and house listing material, will be completed between April 25 and May 16.
A total of 146,270 census-takers, comprising mostly teachers, will conduct the exercise in 424 districts in rural and urban areas of the country.
Census-takers and associated workers will be supervised by 3,626 district census officers and tehsildars in the first stage of the population census while some 22,408 circle supervisors will collect details of houses to conduct a detailed survey of urban and rural areas.
Three forms will be distributed during Census 2011, whereby form 1 will be used for house-listing, form 2 for the main census operations while form 2A is a detailed questionnaire that will be distributed to a sample population.
The census will take into account demographic, social and economic characteristics including information about literacy, standard of living, access to information and communication etc. The estimated cost of the entire exercise is Rs5 billion.
According to the 1998, census Pakistan’s population was around 132 million while PCO estimates that the population has risen above 175 million at present.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2011.
The Pakistan Army has refused to participate in the sixth population census, due to its engagement in the war against terrorism in tribal areas and Balochistan, said a senior official of the Population Census Organisation (PCO).
“Army personnel will only respond to distress calls of enumerators in case they face resistance in sensitive areas of the state,” said the official.
The Statistics Division of Pakistan had officially requested for some 0.2 million soldiers, including officers, for 15 days, to provide security cover to the field staff as well as for the collection of questionnaires.
PCO officials believe the support of the uniformed personnel would allow the enumerators to work without security concerns and complete their work in the stipulated time.
Secretary Statistics Division Asif Bajwa said the Pakistan Army, Rangers, Frontier Constabulary, Levies and other paramilitary forces have guaranteed to offer support to the survey teams.
He ruled out any resistance from miscreants in volatile areas of the country, especially in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and tribal areas. “When I visited Balochistan this week, people said they would extend their full cooperation to the census crew,” he added.
The main census operations, i.e. the head-counting, will start on October 6 while the preparation for it, including the retrieval of summary sheets and house listing material, will be completed between April 25 and May 16.
A total of 146,270 census-takers, comprising mostly teachers, will conduct the exercise in 424 districts in rural and urban areas of the country.
Census-takers and associated workers will be supervised by 3,626 district census officers and tehsildars in the first stage of the population census while some 22,408 circle supervisors will collect details of houses to conduct a detailed survey of urban and rural areas.
Three forms will be distributed during Census 2011, whereby form 1 will be used for house-listing, form 2 for the main census operations while form 2A is a detailed questionnaire that will be distributed to a sample population.
The census will take into account demographic, social and economic characteristics including information about literacy, standard of living, access to information and communication etc. The estimated cost of the entire exercise is Rs5 billion.
According to the 1998, census Pakistan’s population was around 132 million while PCO estimates that the population has risen above 175 million at present.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2011.