NADRA to complete first-ever digital census by Aug 3

Pilot phase launched from July 20 in 429 census blocks of 83 tehsils across Pakistan

ISLAMABAD:

After successful tests, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has deployed its information technology turnkey solution in the pilot phase of the country’s first digital census, which is scheduled to complete house-listings and enumeration by August 3.

The pilot phase of digital census already commenced from July 20 in 429 census blocks of 83 tehsils across four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).

“Developing digital solution for digital census using modern agile methodology in just three-week time was indeed an uphill task,” NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik said while addressing a meeting of the Second Census Monitoring Committee presided over by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal here on Tuesday.

The meeting was held to review the progress of the digital census’ pilot phase. Representatives from Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), finance ministry, NADRA, Council of Common Interests (CCI), NTC, all provinces, AJK and G-B were present.

The NADRA chairman said, “Considering it a call of duty, our software developers worked their fingers to the bones from dawn to dusk and successfully developed the comprehensive solution within the squeezed timeframe. The future of country’s democracy and economy hinges on an accurate census numbers.”

Malik informed about the progress of the pilot phase of the digital census being carried out that so far, 59,569 structures as well as 58,882 households have been listed and 74,536 population has been enumerated.

He informed the meeting that the comprehensive digital solution included development and deployment of android-based house listings and enumeration application synchronised with global positioning system (GPS) and geographical information system (GIS), data centre services, call centre services, establishment of technical support centres at each tehsil level along with online web portal for general public with other allied services. The system will ensure accuracy, accountability and transparency throughout the process.”

The android-based census digital applications have online and offline support with seamless data synchronisation feature, he said, adding that the system will continue to support PBS in all three stages of census – pre-census stage, census stage and post-census stage.

He said that NADRA was also extending data centre services for centralised repository of census data along with digital imageries at the PBS. “In addition to that, an exclusive web portal along with call-centre services has also be developed. A user-friendly web-based portal has a self-enumeration feature which enables the general public to register in case of their non-availability at the time of census.”

The CCI had directed to conduct the digital census using modern digital technology. As a result, the PBS signed an agreement with NADRA on June 20 for preparation of a comprehensive digital solution for carrying out the first-ever digital census in the country in 2022.