Sindh

Census without consensus not acceptable

People displaced by 2022 flood might go uncounted, says Sindh Coordination Council

Our Correspondent May 04, 2023

PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI:

The Sindh Coordination Council (SCC), a representative body of civil society, on Wednesday demanded of the government to ensure transparency in the process of digital census by extending the deadline across the province instead of some cities and towns.

The demand has come following the reports of massive discrepancies in the census and pressure tactics by certain quarters to achieve vested interest.

"Almost all Sindh including Kacho, kohistan and desert areas have been completely or partially destroyed by the heavy monsoon rains and floods last year. A huge number of people are not counted in flood hit areas as they have not yet returned to their homes. But unfortunately, the census date is only being extended in urban areas," said Professor Aijaz Qureishi, Secretary General of the council in a statement.

According to the council, comprising six like-minded think tanks including intellectuals, writers, diplomats and professionals, have placed the matter before the Council of Common Interest. As per the council members, the accurate counting of people in Sindh is a must for the correct and justified allocation of funds under NFC or seats in assemblies.

"We demand that Afghans, illegal migrants and aliens counted so far must be placed in a separate group as a 'different entity' so that, they may not be able to enlist with ECP as voters," the statement said adding that like the 2017 census, this manipulation of the population increase or fudging of figures will render the whole exercise disputed, futile, and worthless.

The census authorities, federal and provincial governments must ensure transparency, accuracy, and authenticity of the data so that the results are acceptable to all stakeholders.

They said that due to improper and defective planning, the process could not be finalised within the specified period, and the last date has been extended many times. "We time and again questioned the criteria and methodology employed by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics."

They added that the selective extension of geo- tagging and populous count until May 15, 2023 for particular areas is a part of a mischievous agenda, aimed at altering the demographic configuration of Sindh and turning the native population into a minority.

"We should not have double standards in principles or policies in the same province and will protest at every forum if our genuine demand is not met," said the statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2023.

COMMENTS (2)

Sahib khan | 1 year ago | Reply As the census process started in the whole of Pakistan in which the census and the census were conducted the results were 55 percent and the objections that were raised at this time are quite reasonable because the government enumerators were sent on time. The facility was not provided and the enumerators did the house enumeration and population census at their own expense and the enumerators have received only one block of wages at this time. The enumerators do not have money. The government is requested to pay the enumerators at least 3 liters of petrol for the ride and full payment for the blocks and obligate each enumerator supervisor to conduct a complete house census and population census.

Akram Ali | 1 year ago | Reply The intention of MQM and Jamaat-e-Islami may not be good but what they say regarding the under-reporting of Karachi census is correct. Because the distribution of NFC in Bengal was done on the basis of equality of resources which Bhutto did on the basis of population to benefit Punjab after the partition of Bengalis in 1974. Think like this that if Sindh crops all the provinces will get a share according to their population. MQM and Jamaat are worried about Karachi assembly seats but the population of Karachi is also part of the total population of Sindh. If the population of Karachi is shown as one crore instead of two crore Sindh s share in the NFC award will be reduced. Another thing is that when the census takers can show the population of Karachi as low how sure is it that the population of the rest of the districts of Sindh is shown correctly If the population of Sindh is reduced to 80 million instead of 50 million there will be a loss of billions of rupees from the share of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which is not acceptable to the Punjabi Pathan bureaucracy of Islamabad Pindhi and Lahore. Sindh gives 70 revenue but Population influx is increasing in Sindh not other provinces because other provinces people s are coming into Sindh for their income and also outsiders of country like Aghanis Bangalis and Bermis Indians Kashmiris also..

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