At least 200,000 soldiers of Pakistan Army will be deployed to ensure security during the sixth population and housing census, Inter-Services Public Relations said on Friday.
ISPR Director General Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor took to Twitter to make the announcement.
#COAS approves plan to support conduct of 6th Population & Housing Census. Upto 200,000 troops will be emp while cont other security resps.
— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) January 27, 2017
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) will conduct the national census in March this year, its chief statistician had said, after a gap of almost 18 years.
“The census will be conducted in two phases simultaneously in all the four provinces,” said Asif Bajwa. “Services of 45,000 security personnel will be sought for this exercise."
Islamabad will be one of the first cities where the census will conducted in the first phase, Bajwa had said.
“In first phase in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, census will begin from Mardan and Peshawar, in Punjab from Faisalabad, Dera Ghazi Khan and Sargodha, in Balochistan from Quetta, Zhob, Sibbi and Makran and in Sindh from Karachi and Hyderabad.
“In the second phase, census will be conducted in Azad Jammu Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas,” said Bajwa.
On Thursday, the bureau formed a three-member committee to diligently review the ongoing preparations for the census and immediately suggest improvements and solutions as required.
