Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to hold census in the country, adding the decision would have far reaching impacts on the nation allowing equitable distribution of resources and representation in the governments, businesses, and the socio-economic development of the nation.
In a statement issued from the party's central secretariat, the chairman stated that the last census was held in 1998 after which the government functioned on mere estimates. He added that Qaumi Watan Party had raised the issue of conducting timely census in the country and QWP also convened an All Parties Conference in this regard in which a resolution was passed in favor of the proposal.
Aftab Sherpao further added that currently there was no law that compelled the government to conduct census after regular periods. "We have presented a bill, for amendment in the law, for holding censes after every 10 years. The Bill has been passed by the Standing Committee on Finance and will soon be presented for debate in the parliament," he added.
QWP chief clarified that census held a foundational role in democracy, and without it, the number of seats in the parliament could not be decided. "The lack of an accurate database, in turn, causes lopsided development as population figures are a prerequisite for egalitarian power-sharing, equitable distribution of resources among the federating units and urban planning."
In the absence of accurate statistics, a population census could be manipulated to maintain the demographic hegemony of one region over the others, or at achieving a larger chunk from an ever-shrinking pie of resources, he added. "For the last 18 years the state system is deprived of the exact number of its citizens.
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