PBS survey to verify census data

The Census Monitoring Committee (CMC) decided on Wednesday to launch the post-enumeration survey for validating the provisional data collected during the country’s first-ever digital census.

The CMC met here with Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal in the chair. The meeting reviewed the progress of the ‘Digital Population and Housing Census’, said a news release issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) after the meeting.

The PBS has completed its field operation of the census except in three districts of Kohistan region and some snowbound areas. It is the largest digital census of its kind in the South Asian region.

“The successful conclusion of fieldwork for the digital census is a moment of great pride for the nation,” the PBS stated. “The overall progress of the census is very encouraging and satisfactory.”

The news release said the digital system functioned smoothly throughout the field operation and without any disruption, and helped unearth various under-coverage patterns during the task for real-time rectification.

The CMC decided that the post-enumeration survey would be conducted in light of the Council of Common Interests’ (CCI) decision to assess the extent of over- and under-reporting, as well as to validate the provisional data.

“The PBS will work out the modalities for the conduct of post-enumeration survey and will prepare a comprehensive plan and strategy for consideration and approval of the CMC,” the news release added.

The committee also advised the finance division to immediately release the remaining census funds required for the payment to various stakeholders and service providers as well as the field staff.

The meeting also decided that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) would ensure necessary arrangements for the retrieval of the tablets and allied matters as per the standard operating procedures to complete the census process.

All the assistant commissioners, being the district census officers, would provide completion certificates after which the payment to the field staff for census work would be made, according to the CMC.

The 15-day field operation in heavily snowbound areas, comprising 129 blocks of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 80 blocks of Gilgit-Baltistan and 16 blocks of Mansehra in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and three districts of Kohistan would be conducted from July 1 to 15, 2013.

During the meeting, Information Technology Minister Aminul Haque applauded the efforts of the PBS and the planning minister for the successful conduct of the field operation of the census and congratulated them on accomplishing the gigantic task.