The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday extended till April 30 ongoing field work for the country’s first-ever digital census following reports of major cities showing a decline in their populations.
In a notification, the agency said the field work deadline was being extended by five days—April 26-30—to ensure complete coverage in line with an April 15 meeting of the Census Monitoring Committee. It said that the deadline had been extended following the observation of negative growth rate in some districts, adding that the additional time would ensure no leftover houses/structures. “The respective provincial government may also continue physical verification process in 11 districts up to April 30, 2023 for ensuring complete coverage,” it added.
According to the list provided by the PBS, the census timeline has been extended in the following 12 cities/regions because of negative growth: Quetta; Lahore; Rawalpindi; Karachi Central; Karachi South; Karachi West; Karachi East; Malir; Kemari; Korangi; Hyderabad; and Islamabad. At the same time, it said, the timeline had been extended in 11 cities to ensure the verification of data: Gujranwala; Sialkot; Jhelum; Gujrat; Sheikhupura; Attock; Chakwal; Peshawar; Dera Ismail Khan; Abbottabad; and Tank.
This is the fourth time that the census timeline had been extended. Initially, it was set to be conducted from March 1 to April 1, but was subsequently extended to April 10, then April 15, then April 20, and now April 30.
MQM concerns
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan—a ruling coalition partner—has expressed significant concerns over the census, claiming that cities in Sindh are being ‘undercounted.’ Reportedly, the party has sought the resignations of its lawmakers in Parliament with an intent to forward them to authorities if its demands for a “fresh census” conducted by an impartial and private sector company are not addressed.