Post-census survey to begin on July 8

CMC decides to conduct census in remaining areas of Kohistan, Snow bound areas of K-P, AJK and G-B

ISLAMABAD:

The Census Monitoring Committee (CMC) decided on Tuesday to start Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) from July 8 and conduct enumeration in three districts of Kohistan that are remaining areas.

The CMC held its 16th meeting, with Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal in the chair. The meeting was attended by all the CMC members, including Information Technology Minister Aminul Haque, according to a handout.

It was decided in the meeting that PES of 7th Population and Housing Census would start on July 8 and it would be completed in 15 days. Iqbal urged due diligence to increase credibility of the exercise, the handout said.

“The work plan, methodology and sample design for conducting Post-Enumeration Survey by using the Stratified Sampling Technique was also approved by Census Monitoring Committee,” the handout read.

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“It was further decided in meeting that for Post Enumeration Survey NADRA [the National Database and Registration Authority] will ensure provision of software by today [Tuesday] for testing purpose,” it added.

The PES is a step towards gaining the confidence and acceptability of stakeholders on the process of digital census. It is also a part of the plan, already approved by the Council of Common Interest (CCI).

During the meeting, Chief Census Commissioner Dr Naeemuz Zafar presented the strategy and mechanism of the PES devised in accordance with the CCI guidelines. Iqbal directed for provision of the allocated budget for the PES.

The meeting also decided to conduct enumeration in three districts of Kohistan and the remaining snow-bound areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa K-P, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) from July 8, 2023.

The planning minister also asked all the chief secretaries the relevant district officers to provide the completion certificates of field enumeration of the census by July 15, the hand out said.