Islamabad: A high-level meeting held in Islamabad on Friday has further postponed the long overdue national census in Pakistan.
The decision was taken unanimously by the Council of Common Interests (CCI), a constitutional body comprising federal and provincial highups.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired the CCI meeting, which resolved that new date will be finalised in consultation with provincial governments and the armed forces.
The meeting was informed that, due to engagement of armed forces in the antiterrorism Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the northwestern tribal region, the required number of troops for cannot be census cannot spared at this stage.
A proposal for a phased census was discarded as it was not in line with international best practices and liable to spur doubts about the credibility of the exercise, official sources said.
Pakistan is constitutionally required to conduct national census every 10 years.
The first census was held 1951 after independence in 1947. The last census took place in 1998.
As of 2015, The population of Pakistan is estimated at 191.71 million.
