ISLAMABAD: Federal government wants to complete the process for the digital census in the country before holding of the general election 2023. According to the sources, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal directed the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to expedite the process for holding the digital census in the country in a meeting held at P-Block Secretariat on Monday.
The pilot phase of the digital census was held from 20th July to 3rd August 2022 in 417 census blocks of 83 Tehsils across four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).
The minister said, “We are already on [a] thin line and any delay in the process would create constitutional crises as the conduct of the next general election of 2023 depended on the census of 2022.”
The chief statistician PBS briefed the minister that the digital pilot census has been completed and by and large it remained successful; however, there were some limitations which will be addressed before the full rollout.
He said that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), the National Telecom Corporation (NTC), and SUPARCO worked closely with the PBS to make the pilot census successful.
He further informed the minister that the pilot census was conducted after giving proper training to the staff and tablets were also given to them. The minister directed the PBS to expedite the process further so formal digital census could be started timely.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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