Chief Census Commissioner Asif Bajwa said here that complaints have been received during the three-day house count exercise as part of the ongoing countrywide population census which concluded on Friday. House count in 63 districts of the country was completed on Friday and now the headcount in these districts would begin today (Saturday), he added.
Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, he said, "We acted immediately to address the complaints received from different areas during the house count. We also acknowledged receiving some complaints from Muttahida Quomi Movement (MQM) Pakistan during house count," he added, saying no one would be allowed to fill up the census form with lead pencil.
Bajwa said that more officials were sent shortly after receiving complaints to count each single flat/house in high-rise buildings. In this regard, he clarified that a two-storied house would get one number. He said immediate action was taken on the complaints of filling up forms by the lead pencil. Bajwa said that instructions are being sent to field officials in the light of Supreme Court and Lahore High Court's directives to ensure coverage of disabled persons and transgender in the census.
He said that code one has been allocated in the census form for male, two for female and code three for transgender. He said 12 million more forms have been printed by Pakistan Security Printing Press, while 40 million forms for house count were already available. He clarified that there was no difference between the old and new forms.
Bajwa informed newsmen that as per initial estimates, Rs 6 billion have been allocated for the Statistics Division, Rs 6bn for the armed forces and Rs 6.3 billion would be incurred during the population census exercise. "We will count every single person and officials involved in the census have been instructed not to go inside a house and must rely on the information provided by the head of the house," he said, adding that the data being collected during the census would not be checked at provincial or district levels, but it would be transferred to Islamabad. Regarding MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar's request that time for the house count should be extended, Bajwa said as per principle "we have to cover all the areas, buildings and localities, still I will check from my people and armed forces personnel whether all areas have been covered or some of them could not be covered."
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