Census process hits snags in Balochistan

Headcount in 228 blocks shelved for technical reasons

QUETTA:

The process for the census cannot be initiated in 228 blocks of the province due to some technical issues, Noor Ahmed Pirkani, the commissioner of Census Balochistan said on Monday.

The census commissioner’s response comes after repeated complaints on the part of political parties regarding flaws in the census process in Balochistan.

The census commissioner addressed a press conference about the process in the province and spoke at length about the issues the census staff is facing to reach out to the masses.

Balochistan has a total of 11,860 census blocks, Pirkani said, adding that the process of the census will begin on Tuesday, however, 228 blocks will not be included in it due to some technical fault.

“As we end with the issues in 228 census blocks the process will continue there too,” he added. “All the people living in Balochistan are requested to register themselves in this census.”

Total population in 2017 census

Balochistan, the area-wise largest province of Pakistan, had a population of 12.3 million in the 2017 census. The province contributed less than 6 percent to the total population of the country.

According to the census reports of 2017, Balochistan has an average population density of 35 persons per km square compared to the national average population density of 236 persons per km square and 536 persons per km square for Punjab province.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2023.