Digital census in Sindh mired in complaints

"Our family has yet not been counted in the digital census and doubts that the enumerators will visit our area again," says Dr *S, a university professor who lives in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. "My cousins who live in Shanti Nagar have the same complaint," he adds.

"The enumerators from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) visited our area, but not us," the professor said while speaking to The Express Tribune. When he inquired from his friends and relatives for his satisfaction, he was surprised to know that they that the same complaint. "I do not blame the machines [tablets] but the teams who do not bother to take the census seriously," he added.

Last week, Ghulam Mustafa, a resident of Mehmoodabad, some 17km from the house of the professor, repeatedly asked an enumerator roaming in his street to count his family. "The enumerator was not supposed to count us and the reason he gave me was 'indifferent attitude' of the families living in the same building," he recalled.

"I had seen some residents not cooperating with the PBS teams, but it is their duty to knock on each and every door," Mustafa said.

Different types of complaints have been lodged with district administrations and the PBS complaint cells for leftover and undercounting.

The residents of Hasrat Mohani Colony located in North Nazimabad raised serious questions on counting their society as a single unit. "We have 137 structures and over 150 families, but it shows an empty plot on the map shown by the enumerators," said Syed Najam-ul Hasan.

Hasan said that the society was about 15 years old. "The team has counted us but not our houses. This does not make sense. I would not exist without my house and we have lodged a complaint with officials to rectify it before the final results," he added.

Concerns and doubts

Not only the common citizens but the city's political parties have also raised questions on the first-ever digital population and housing census.

The deadline to complete the process after extension is April 15 but it seems that the PBS will need at least 15 more days to satisfy all the stakeholders in Sindh, especially in Karachi and Hyderabad.

Speaking to The Express Tribune Director of PBS and In-Charge of the census in Sindh, Munawar Ali Ghangro conceded that complaints in many areas were genuine. "Undercount and leftover are two major issues in Karachi," he said.

Ghangro said that his office could approach the federal government in case the target was not achieved on time. "We want to count everyone. Everyone! We want accurate and credible census," he said.

Replying to a question over complaints, Ghangro said that human errors were possible but "machines cannot make mistakes". He also admitted that leftover in different areas, especially in high-rise residential buildings, was common. "The enumerators have not counted all the apartments [in some cases] and we have to address them," he added.

Population

According to the data compiled until the evening of April 13, Karachi's total population is over 14,450,000 while Hyderabad's population is more than 11,100,000, and the total population of Sindh has reached about 40.94 million Interestingly, according to the 2017 census, the city's population was 16,024,894. The official data also shows that the total number of houses/structures in the city is nearly 10 million.

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