The federal government has decided to close the field operations of the 7th Housing and Population Census in Pakistan – the first digital one in the country – immediately.
Now, the process of verification and validation to ensure complete coverage would be completed within 15 days.
The decision was made during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with the senior management of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), according to a statement issued on Tuesday.
It was decided that all census district officers would provide completion certificates.
The payments to the census field staff would be made by district and assistant commissioners after the provision of the completion certificate.
The headcounts data of restricted areas and collective residences would be incorporated in the population count of the respective blocks.
The Demographers Committee would finalise its recommendations for the consideration of the Census Monitoring Committee (CMC) after analysing the data by applying demographic techniques, keeping in view the forensic audit reports of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) as well as ground realities.
It was decided during the huddle that NADRA and SUPARCO would assist the Demographers Committee technically through forensic audit for the rectification of under- and over-reporting.
Also read: Census process marred with discrepancies
The complaints of lack of coverage at Census Support Centres as well as PBS Call Centres would be entertained at their phone number – 0800-57574 – subject to the provision of the national identity card number and addressed till May 30.
Simultaneously, the verification for quality assurance of the data would continue by using a modern technique called Computer Assisted Telephonic Interview (CATI).
The statement read that the citizens were urged to extend cooperation with the government team to verify their data through randomly generated calls through CATI.
It continued that the population counts being reported in the media were provisional and would change after data synchronisation; addition of restricted areas and collective residence aggregated counts; leftover structures and change on the basis of recommendations of Demographers’ Committee approved by the CMC.
It added that the field operation of the first-ever digital population and housing census was completed on May 15, 2023. The census field operation commenced on March 1, 2023 and continued without any interruption.
The PBS, in the statement, expressed its “profound gratitude” to the citizens, who actively participated in the census to accomplish their moral and legal obligations.
It concluded that the digital census would provide the opportunity to the government to develop evidence-based policy planning for ensuring the citizens' rights and better service delivery at their doorsteps – leading to a prosperous nation.
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