LAHORE, Pakistan: Pakistan launched its first-ever digital population and housing census on Wednesday in an effort to securely gather demographic data on every individual ahead of the parliamentary elections this year, officials said.
The digital count will provide data for policy decisions, which now are based on the 2017 census, which counted the population at 207 million people.
It’s also meant to beef up security and avoid another morass like the one that beset the 2021 census. The results of that count, which was done manually, were never announced over complaints about errors and exclusion.
The results of the digital census will be announced next month, according to Pakistan’s Bureau of Statistics (PBS) which is conducting the census amid tight security.
On Wednesday, census workers fanned out across Pakistan to collect the data.
In addition to policy decisions on such matters as education and health, the information also will be used for the next parliamentary elections.
For the first time, census workers will count transgender people. According to human rights groups, there are around 10,000 trans people living in Pakistan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the digital census would ensure a transparent system of data collection.
This, he said, would feed into informed decision-making, future planning, and efficient utilization of resources.
The prime minister stated this in a tweet on the launch of Digital Census ‘23. He congratulated all the organisations concerned for designing the system indigenously.
Self-enumeration portal
In Islamabad, Chief Census Commissioner Dr Naeem uz Zafar inaugurated the field activities by marking the first Building Structure in the ‘House Listing App’.
Dr Zafar termed the citizens of Pakistan as the most important stakeholders and beneficiaries of the census and urged them to ensure their full participation and cooperation during census field operations.
“Participation in the census is not only our moral & legal obligation but also provides the opportunity for the government to devise evidence-based policy planning for ensuring our rights and better service delivery at our doorstep,” he said.
PBS has already launched a self-enumeration portal https://self.pbs.gov.pk since February 20, 2023, which is the first-ever opportunity provided to any country in South Asia.
The response of the citizens to get themselves registered through the portal is tremendous.
Toll-free number
PBS has been striving to make the portal more user-friendly on the basis of valuable feedback from the citizens and citizens are encouraged to provide their feedback and register their complaints through our toll-free number 0800-57574 for further facilitation, assistance and suggestions.
The inauguration was followed by a brief media talk by Dr Naeem uz Zafar and spokesman (PBS)/ Member SS/RM Muhammad Sarwar Gondal wherein the media was briefed about the Digital Census’s background, progress to date and appreciation of the involvement of all stakeholders.
The chief census commissioner appreciated the succession of the self-enumeration portal and hoped that the same progress and dedication will be seen during the full roll-out of enumeration activity. “This Census will geo-tag all structures of Pakistan that will provide a framework for the economic census,” he added. Some 92,754 enumerators are fully motivated and engaged in door-to-door field initiative.
