Dar expresses satisfaction on census work

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Friday expressed satisfaction on the census work undertaken till date and hoped the good work would be continued in coming days also.

Chairing a meeting held to review the progress of ongoing housing and population census the minister also appreciated the dedication of all officials engaged in census activities including the army personnel.

The minister said the PML(N) government had the privilege of taking on this gigantic task after 19 years and added that the task would be completed in the most transparent manner as per international best practices.

Welcoming the appointment of Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed as Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Statistics, the Finance Minister said that Zaheer Ahmed brought with him rich experience and would endeavor to enhance liaison with all stakeholders at administrative and political levels to address complaints and grievances arising out of the whole process of the census.

Chief Statistician, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) apprised the meeting that the census activities under phase-I had been going on for seven days now.

He said that census work was being undertaken in 40,000 blocks throughout the country smoothly. He said that considerable work had already been completed under the phase-I.

He informed the meeting that all the activities were being carried out as per the standard parameters.

Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Law, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Statistics, Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed, Secretary Finance and Secretary Statistics Division were present.

Senior officials of the Finance and Statistics Divisions also attended the meeting.