Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Monday directed the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and National Registration and Database Authority (NADRA) to revise census training and tablet procurement respectively to complete the process well in time.
The minister chaired third meeting of Census Monitoring Committee (CMC) and reviewed the preparation for holding 7th digital Population and Housing Census, said a press release.
He emphasized the need for timely completion of census and involvement and consultation with all stakeholders like Election Commission, civil societies, academia, politicians and demographers to ensure consensus.
He directed PBS to coordinate with Election Commission and include them as co-opted member in Census Monitoring Committee; moreover, and asked for engaging with civil society to ensure that they are on-board. On census timelines, he directed PBS and NADRA to revise census training and tablet procurement respectively.
He further advised PBS to make all efforts to get consent of Sindh government on Dejure methodology as they had reservations on results of last census. Meeting ended on a vote of thanks and resolve to continue with concerted efforts for transparent and credible conduct of census.
As per recommendations of CMC, Pilot Census for 7th Population and Housing Census– 2022 was conducted from July, 20, 2022 to August, 03 2022 in 33 districts throughout the country including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan with an aim to test tools and technology before going into full roll out.
Pilot Census Evaluation Report has been finalized by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and the CMC is responsible for supervision and evaluation of Pilot Census and recommendations for full roll-out of Census-2022.