Unveiling the roadmap for the seventh digital population and housing census, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Tuesday said that the final results of the digital census will be announced by December and subsequent elections will be based on the results,
He said that the government will conduct a pilot test run of the census to test the process for risk management and disaster recovery in May-June, 2022.
“The main fieldwork will be conducted from September to December while post sample enumeration will be conducted in November,” stated Umar.
He said, “in today’s era of modern technology it was vital to hold the census more often compared to the past when the census used to be held with a huge gap of 15 to 18 years.”
The minister regretted that a foundational process, which was the basic pillar of the country’s planning and development, was not given due importance in the past.
“Without a transparent and timely conduction of population census, the resources’ distribution amongst various areas of the country will not be ensured,” he added.
The minister furthered that in order to make the exercise successful, the coordination of the provinces was instrumental.
The PBS management has been asked to share details regarding the seventh population census with the media to ensure transparency and to identify any drawbacks.
Responding to a question, the minister said that the digital system will be completely secure as it will not be internet-based. Moreover, to further ensure security, all relevant stakeholders, including the IT Ministry, National Telecom Corporation (NTC) and NRTG have been taken on board.
Umar stressed the importance of the census, stating that it is a constitutional requirement to hold elections on the basis of the latest population and housing census.
To a question with respect to the opposition’s call for a long march and no-confidence vote in the parliament, the minister said the government did not take the opposition’s stance seriously because they have “failed in their designs multiple times already”.
