Census delay and mismanagement

This country's sixth population census was already late by three years when the Population Census Organisation began listing houses - a mandatory pre-census exercise - in early April. It has been delayed further pending resolution of serious questions regarding the veracity of house listing. According to a press report, during its August 27 meeting, some members of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) had expressed reservations over vastly skewed results of Census Organisation's newly completed record that showed 84 percent increase in households in Sindh as against only 32 percent in Punjab. Major urban districts in Sindh like Hyderabad, Karachi, Jacobbabad and Jamshoro portrayed 129, 114, 111 and 102 percent growth in households, respectively, whereas in Punjab's largest district Lahore it was merely 0.94 percent. No wonder, the PML-N led delegation made the loudest protests during and after the ICC meeting. The PML-N's immediate concern of course is general elections. Following the meeting, it wrote a letter to the Election Commission requesting it to review its earlier guidelines, under which preliminary electoral rolls were to be prepared by Nadra on the basis of new block codes registered in the new house listing. Arguing that the final electoral rolls of 2007 and Nadra's CNIC database relied on 1998 census and its blocks of which 92 percent, it says, are 'very much verifiable', it wants restoration of old electoral rolls. The PML-N is not alone in having objected to the housing listing, some other members of the CCI have also been expressing reservations on the issue. And the political parties reckon that elections can happen anytime, and hence want the electoral lists to be as authentic as possible within the shortest time. Needless to say, housing and population data is important for holding fair elections; it is vital also for economic and social planning by the federal as well as provincial governments. Flawed statistics can result in flawed planning for development. As for the parties' concerns about electoral lists, for now it seems the best solution would be to reconcile Nadra information with electoral lists. But the census must not be delayed any further. The Census Organisation has proved it is not equal to the task on its own. The onus for mismanagement of the affair, at least in part, also lies on its oversight body, the Statistics Division, whose responsibility is to put out authentic data for both public and private use. The challenge at this point in time is to ensure that no glaring anomalies are found in the new facts and figures. Since the issue is equally sensitive for all the four federating units, it would be only appropriate if the CCI assumes the responsibility to decide on the way forward. Copyright Business Recorder, 2011