The president of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh chapter Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has warned the federal government that Sindh will not accept the results of the ongoing digital population census unless the province's concerns about the flaws in the head and house count are addressed.
Speaking at a press conference at the residence of Syed Ali Nawaz Shah Rizvi in Hyderabad on Sunday, Khuhro complained that the census authorities were not providing data on the house count. He said it had exacerbated their concerns about the omission of houses in flood-hit areas during the counting process.
Khuhro noted that the first phase of the census with regard to the house count has been completed, and the Centre should not delay any further in sharing that data with the province. "We couldn't determine how many homes have been left out in the counting in Sindh," he said.
According to Khuhro, many technical flaws have surfaced during the first phase of the counting, which have given rise to apprehensions. "We still don't know through what process the damaged or collapsed houses in the flood-affected areas of Sindh were counted."
Khuhro emphasised that the provincial government has the right to know about the numbers of illegal immigrants and people from other provinces who are living in Sindh. He contended that the counting of illegal immigrants lacked clarity. He also pointed out that issues of untrained staff and problems with the tablets have surfaced.
He said the time for completing the census should be extended, given the nature of complaints emerging from different parts of the province.
Khuhro recalled that the Sindh government also raised objections against the 2017 population census and had demanded a recheck of houses and population in randomly selected five census blocks in each district.
However, he added, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's government rejected that proposition, and the Council of Common Interests in 2021 approved the 2017 census results.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2023.
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