Census delayed for four months

Decision taken during PBS meeting chaired by planning minister

ISLAMABAD:

The government on Monday formally announced delaying the seventh population and housing census by four months as it failed to arrange “foreign-source procurements” due to the “prevailing economic situation”.

The timing of the announcement amid the ongoing PTI “Azadi March” that calls for holding snap elections to rid the country of uncertainty would surely send ripples across political spectrum.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics in a meeting chaired by Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal on Monday.

Iqbal directed the PBS to send a fresh summary to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and the Prime Minister Office with a fresh timeline over the 7th Digital Census 2022, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Planning.

The government has given February 1 to March 4, 2023 as the new dates for holding the 7th housing and population census. Earlier, the field surveys had been planned from October 15 to November 15.

The announcement came amid pressure from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf to force the government and the establishment to accept its demand for snap elections. Its workers on Monday blocked main highways and roads, creating severe problems for the common commuters, many of them have nothing to do with the politics of the PTI and the PML-N.

The minister was apprised about the progress made so far on the population census and the PBS chief informed the minister that earlier summary was submitted after agreement with NADRA for the conduct of census with effect from October 15, 2022 to November 15, 2022.

“However, due to delay in opening of Letter of Credit due to the prevailing economic situation, NADRA is unable to provide tablets,” according to the planning ministry. The central bank has imposed restrictions on opening of the letter of credit due to thin position of the foreign exchange reserves.

Read ECC holds up funds for next population census

The timelines have been revised and now the field work will be conducted with effect from February 1, 2023 to March 4, 2023, according to the planning ministry. The results after the conduct of post enumeration survey will be handed over to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by April 30, 2023 for the delimitation purposes.

The ECP will need at least three to four months to demarcate constituencies -- a time that will coincide with the end of the five-year constitutional term of the National Assembly in August next year.

The last cabinet of former prime minister Imran Khan had decided to hold the next general elections on the basis of a new census after Sindh had expressed strong reservations over the results of the previous census and reluctantly accepted those.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led cabinet also endorsed the previous cabinet’s decision and approved a Rs5 billion budget for holding the census last week.

It was informed that complete 126,000 tablets for holding the census digitally will be handed over in installments by December 2022 and census ERP (complete software solutions) by October 15, 2022 for testing, according to the ministry.

The planning ministry said that keeping in view the sensitivity of matter, the PBS adjusted the training of master trainers and training of trainers at divisional level in month of November and December 2022. However, as training at tehsil level for 120,000 field staff and field work cannot be initiated before the complete handover of tablets therefore after all considerations and running activities in parallel, according to the ministry.

Iqbal expressed concerns over the extension of the deadline for the population census and asked the PBS to urgently intimate the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and the PM’s Office due to sensitivity of the matter. He also emphasized that the further delay cannot be acceptable as the next elections will be based on this Census.

The minister also directed PBS to ensure the quality of the training at Tehsil level. He advised to include HEC and academia to monitor the training at Tehsils level as quality training is essential for credible and reliable data. He was of view the assessment should be done by independent third body.

The PBS chief further informed the Minister that so far NADRA has handed over 22,000 tables for the census which have been hardened and now ready to dispatch and the remaining will be handed over soon.  He apprised test 21,600 more tablets will reach the PBS this week and will be in hardening process soon.

It was further informed that training of Master trainers will start from November 28 to December 10, 2022. The self-enumerator process will start from January 15 2023. The Minister directed to expedite the process and strictly adhere to the revised timelines, keeping in view the sensitivity of matter.