Census 2011: First phase ready to start on April 5 in Karachi

This consists of finding out the number of residential units in the city.

KARACHI:

Preparations for the first phase of the census have been finalised by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), said Census Deputy District Officer Syed Zahid Hussein, who is also in charge of the CDGK census control room at the DCO camp office.

The first phase is the House Listing Operations (HLO), which would find out the number of residential units in the city. It would take place from April  5 to April 9.

Hussein said that the city government had earlier trained 45 people, who in turn trained 8,500 personnel from the education department. This force would carry out the census in Karachi. The teams would make door-to-door visits. After the HLO is completed, the second phase would be launched. Under this, each citizen would be contacted in person and asked for their details by the census teams. Assistant Census Commissioner Zarar Ahmed Jan told The Express Tribune that the census would be carried out smoothly — provided that the law and order in the city remains under control.

Jan said that the process would be monitored from two control rooms in the city. One is at the DCO camp office and the other is at the provincial headquarters of the census department.

Just like the last census, this one would also record data on possession of arms and ammunition. While the plans have been finalised, the timetable of when the second phase starts depends on the successful completion of the HLO, said Jan. If all goes according to plan, then it should start by mid-August and end by the middle of September, said the DDO.

Security issues

According to sources, the federal government has been discussing security required for the census, especially for the personnel on the field. The Pakistan army might be asked to provide extra security while the census teams would be accompanied by personnel of the paramilitary forces such as the Frontier Corps and the Pakistan Rangers and police.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2011.