Addressing a press conference at the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), today, Chief Census Commissioner Asif Bajwa announced that all necessary arrangements have been completed for the nation census, scheduled to start from March 15, and a special focus will be placed on internally displaced peoples while adding further that census will be carried out nationwide, taking all sensitive areas into full account.
The treasury has already allotted Rs7.4 billion for the census, he said. Deferredby nine years, the national population census is to begin with a house listing operation in which 200,000 army personnel and 91,000 civilian enumerators will take part for the exercise, which will cost the exchequer over Rs14 billion.
“We are making necessary arrangements to obtain the required data relating to internally displaced peoples (IDPs) from both the Fata Secretariat and the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra),” he said.
“The government is formulating a policy for IDPs in relation to the upcoming census,” the census commissioner explained as he further stated: “The census in areas that have major security concerns will be carried out by military personnel necessary information regarding census procedures has been provided to army head trainers.”
Furthermore, Bajwa highlighted that missing persons will also be added to the census with the figurehead of their respective households being responsible for providing the necessary data.
Following a ruling from the Lahore High Court on January 9, the country's transgender community will also be included in the exercise, for the first time in the history of Pakistan.
