‘Digital census to provide comprehensive dataset’

60% of population surveyed so far, Federal Bureau of Statistics told

KARACHI:

Pakistan's Chief Statistician Naeem Zafar provided an update on the country's digital census during a news conference held at the Federal Bureau of Statistics in Karachi on Saturday.

According to Zafar, 60 per cent of the population has been counted so far, with a total of 140 million people and approximately four million houses enumerated.

He also shared that 970,000 building structures in Sindh have been geo-tagged in the process, including various establishments such as hotels, mosques, madaris, jails, schools, colleges, and shops.

"The country's first-ever digital census aims to provide the government with a comprehensive dataset on the population, economic conditions, and various structures in the country," he said.

The collected data will enable the government to make informed decisions that will benefit the people of Pakistan.

He said that despite some delays in parts of Karachi, the census is set to be completed by April 4. Zafar addressed concerns about the security of the collected data, stating that the information cannot be accessed by any unauthorised person, and the tablet cannot be used to steal data.

Zafar shared detailed data on the number of structures counted in Sindh, including 6,871 houses, 38,513 hotels, 52 jails, 1,088 colleges, 64,000 wholesale shops, 5,314 semi-government offices, 1,284 police stations, 72 old-age homes, 20,600 hospitals, 621 universities, 233,896 shops, 9,580 government offices, 724 hostels, 4,071 madaris, 116,748 mosques, 497 post offices, 217,626 apartments, 61,056 schools, 50,041 factories, 4,294 banks, and 194,512 other constructions.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2023.