‘Won’t accept census results if concerns not addressed’

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that the provincial government has conveyed its reservations about the ongoing digital census to the federal government. "If our reservations are not addressed, we will not accept the census results," he said while addressing a press conference at the Sindh Archives Complex.

Memon said that the Sindh government would like all political parties and civil society to have full confidence in the digital census. Every single person living in the province, including those living here illegally, should be enumerated, so that correct population figures are available with the government. "The data of digital census should also be shared with the Sindh government," he demanded.

Memon said that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has publicly expressed the party's reservations about the digital census. Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has also raised the matter with the federal government and at various other forums. "Now, we are waiting for the federal government to assuage these concerns," he added.

The information minister further said that the provincial government was trying to provide maximum relief to people in the holy month of Ramazan. "For this purpose, the Sindh government has already slashed its expenditures," he added. Anyone found raising prices of food items will be face arrests and fines, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2023.