Pakistan gears up for first census in almost two decades

On Wednesday the first phase of census which is taking place in nearly two decades, has begun amid tight security. Thousands of enumerator, backed by military providing security, began the humungous task which will take almost four months to complete.

The process will span three phases, in which more than 300,000 people will be deployed and will involve 55 million forms, as well as second, separate forms which will be distributed by the military to ensure that the numbers are correct.

“It’s a very hectic process, but we are ready for it,” Nadeem Ehsan, a teacher clad in a yellow Pakistan Census 2017 jacket in the northwestern city of Peshawar, told AFP.
“We had some reservations about security initially but we were assured about it by the government,” he added, describing the process as a “noble cause”.

The count from the census will determine a lot of things including-revising political boundaries, disbursement of budget, parliamentary seat allocations and finances, as the country prepares for elections which are due to take place next year.

The census figures will also give a clearer picture about religions minority numbers as well as the number of transsexual population. The transsexual people are being included in the census for the first time in the history of Pakistan.

According to reports, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) will deploy around 119,000 people, including 84,000 enumerators: teachers and local officials who will go door-to-door to count homes and then individuals.

In addition to that, the army will deploy 200,000 troops for the census, from which 44,000 officials will be directly taking part in the census-taking while the rest will be providing security.

The exercise kicked-off today in Peshawar and the first phase is expected to end on April 15.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Mar 15 2017. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.