CCI session: Population census next year with military help

Census was not originally on the agenda of the council’s meeting

ISLAMABAD: Disregarding the Balochistan government and Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s reservations about census, the prime minister succeeded in getting the approval of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Wednesday for conducting the sixth population census.

The CCI decided to hold the census in March 2016 with the support of the armed forces, as was done in the 1998 census.

Housing and population censuses will be held simultaneously, and their costs will be shouldered by all the four provinces through the divisible pool.

Sources said PM Nawaz Sharif had ignored the concerns raised by the Balochistan government regarding the census and the MQM’s reservations over the army helping carry out the census.

The premier is also said to have rejected the results of the housing census held in 2010 and sought a fresh population and housing census.

Census was not originally on  the agenda of the CCI meeting chaired by Sharif at the PM Office, but it had come under discussion in two previous sessions of the council.

Sources believe that the PM took advantage of the Balochistan chief minister’s absence and the MQM’s current state of turmoil to take up the issue in the meeting.

In the previous CCI meeting on May 29 last year, the PM had asked Interprovincial Coordination Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada to meet with Balochistan CM Dr Malik Baloch to address his concerns regarding census.

Sources said the CM had expressed fear that after the census the ratio of the Baloch and Pashtuns in the province might change and create unrest over distribution of resources among other related issues.

As for the MQM’s reservations, sources believe that in the housing census held by the Pakistan Peoples Party government in 2010, the PPP and MQM had allegedly showed large numbers of houses and family members in villages, cities and urban areas of Sindh to benefit from it after the census.

They said the parties had showed 1,800 houses in a single village that actually had only 18 houses, adding that the PPP and MQM sought more seats in the National Assembly and more share under the National Finance Commission.

Water issues

Two most important issues could not be resolved in the CCI meeting. Balochistan’s representatives said Sindh was not releasing Balochistan’s share of water through the Pat Feeder Canal. Sindh CM Qaim Ali Shah said the issue would be discussed later.

The other issue was of Sindh refusing to release water to the federal capital while Punjab was ready to do so. Sources said Shah insisted that Punjab should release water from its share to Islamabad as it was connected with Rawalpindi as well.

Other issues

The CCI meeting failed to restore the executive magistracy system in the country due to litigation. The system was abolished during former president Pervez Musharraf’s rule.

Although the federal government and the four provinces are on same page on the issue, they were informed that the matter was sub judice.

The provinces have been directed to frame rules and complete other formalities for absorption of federal employees transferred to provincial governments through the 18th amendment.

The finance minister said public debt was brought down from 64 per cent to 62 per cent in less than two years, adding that it would be reduced to 60 per cent by June 2016.

The meeting was informed that proceedings on the Pakistan Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Bill 2014 had been completed and it would soon be presented in parliament. The CCI also approved the Power Generation Policy 2015.

The council also approved the Pakistan Oil (Refining, Blending, Transportation Storage and Marketing) Rules, which repeals some of the existing rules. The CCI also approved the Draft Bill for the Establishment of Pakistan Halal Authority.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2015.