ISLAMABAD -  Chief Census Commissioner Asif Bajwa has said that total estimated cost of the population census is Rs18.5 billion, which will be equally shared by the federal government and provinces as agreed in Council of Common Interests (CCI).

He further said that headcount under 6th population census would start in 63 districts all over the country from Saturday (today), as the three-day house counting exercise completed yesterday.

“The process of 6th population census is underway, as will be completed well on time,” he said while addressing a press conference along with Statistics Division Secretary Dr Shujat Ali and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Spokesperson Habibullah Khattak.

He informed that house count would continue in those areas where it has not completed yet. He further informed that PBS has issued form number two to enumerators for identifying disabled and transgender on the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The government would conduct the survey of internal migration, mortality and fertility after population census completed, he added.

He said that PBS has taken notice of using pencil in filling in census form. “We have directed to use ballpoint for filling the forms,” he added. Two-storey building would be counted as one house while more than two apartments would count as separate buildings, he informed. “PBS is conducting census in a way to make it transparent and internationally acceptable and credible,” he added.

Bajwa informed that total expenditures of the population census is Rs18.5 billion, which will be equally shared by the federal government and provinces as agreed in Council of Common Interests (CCI). Giving details of the budget, he said that the government had allocated Rs6 billion for armed forces, Rs6.5 billion for logistics and Rs6 billion for the civilian expenses to be incurred on population census.

The chief census commissioner said that as many as 118,918 civilian staff and over 200,000 army personnel are engaged in the census exercise, as each enumerator would be accompanied by a soldier. Both enumerator and solider will separately fill the census forms.

“Foreigners data will be complied separately, as the government is counting all the people living in Pakistan,” he said and added that forms have been printed in such a way to separate Pakistanis and foreigners.

Bajwa said if any house was missing in the house-listing operation they could access PBS through helpline for inclusion of that house in the process.

The first phase of the population census would continue from March 15 to April 15 and second phase would be started from April 25 to May 25. Meanwhile, March 28 has been fixed for counting of homeless people throughout the country in the first phase.

The first phase of the census is conducting in 63 districts all across the country including 16 in Punjab, eight in Sindh, 14 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 15 in Balochistan, and five each in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.

APP add: Bajwa said that the count would continue for 10 days while March 28 has been specified for counting of homeless people.

Bajwa said that data of foreigners would be compiled separately.

“The forms have been devised in a way to separate Pakistanis and non-Pakistanis,” he added. Bajwa said that earlier, the PBS had printed 40 million census forms, while 11 million were recently printed from Security Printing Press.