ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday announced a five-day extension in field work of the 7th Population and Housing Census till April 30 after the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) field teams observed ‘negative growth’ in 12 major urban areas and needed ‘data verification’ in 11 major cities of the country.
The areas where the census timeline has been extended include Quetta, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi Central, Karachi South, Karachi West, Karachi East, Malir, Kemari, Korangi, Hyderabad and Islamabad, PBS spokesman Muhammad Sarwar Gondal said in a press statement.
Similarly, he said, verification of the data collected by the PBS field team from 11 cities including Gujranwala, Sialkot, Jhelum, Gujrat, Sheikhupura, Attock, Chakwal, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Abbottabad and Tank was needed.
The spokesman said the extension in the census timeline (from April 26 to April 30) was aimed at “complete coverage and assurance of no leftover structure/houses in the selected districts/big cities where negative growth rate or very slow growth rate has been observed.”
He also asked the provincial governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to continue the physical verification process in 11 identified cities to ensure ‘smooth coverage.’
Meanwhile, the digital census has been extended until April 30th for Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Islamabad, government reported on Tuesday.
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has extended the fieldwork of the digital census for the third time. Earlier, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) extended the census date till April 15 on the recommendation of the provincial governments.
As of now, a total of 23 crores and 53 lakh 88 thousand individuals have been counted, it asserted. The Bureau of Statistics spokesperson shared that there was a 5-day break in the field operation due to Eid-ul-Fitr, which caused the census work to be stopped from April 21 to 25.
The census verification process in some districts will also continue till April 30. The spokesperson added.
In Punjab, the verification process will continue till April 30 in Gujranwala, Sialkot, Jhelum, Gujarat, Sheikhupura, Attock, and Chakwal.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the verification process will continue till April 30 in Peshawar, DI Khan, Abbottabad, and Tank.
