Moot to discuss digital census

Showing reservations over the first-ever digital census, Sindh's political parties have decided to discuss the related issues during the multi-party conference on Friday.

All the political, religious, national parties, writers and civil society activists have been invited for the conference organised by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh chapter.

PPP's provincial leadership has shown concerns on the census, including counting of illegal immigrants, availability of the computerised national identity cards and families displaced because of the 2022 floods.

"Tablets do not work in remote areas," said PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro. "The families do not get any receipt and do not have any idea if all the family members are counted and registered," he added.

Khuhro believed that the digital census will be controversial in case all the reservations highlighted by the PPP, provincial government and other parties were not addressed.

Khalid Maqbool of Muttehida Qaumi Movement, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman of Jamaat-e-Islami, Shahi Syed of Awami National Party, Shah Mohammad Shah of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Syed Sadruddin Shah Rashdi of PML-F and others have been invited by Khuhro.

Meanwhile, all the nationalist parties, including Sindh United Party, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, Qaumi Awami Tehreek, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and others have also been invited for the meeting.

"We invite all the stakeholders in Sindh," Shakeel Memon, the spokesperson for Khuhro said. "It is an important conference where all the leaders will discuss the related issues," he added. Khuhro has demanded that the illegal immigrants should be counted separately.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2023.