ISLAMABAD: The country is going to hold a digital census for the first time this year, with all the preparations rolled out and the team now ready for a gigantic task, Naeemuz Zafar, the chief statistician of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), has said.
Addressing a seminar titled “Census 2023: All You Want to Know About” organised by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), the PBS chief statistician said that digital census would be a great success, as it will save time by incorporating geographic information systems-based monitoring, real-time progress analysis, instant data availability, online task allocation, data quality assurance, transparency, a dashboard for stakeholders, complaint resolution through a hotline, real-time trend analysis, decision support dashboard and so on.
Zafar said that in this regard all the efforts are entirely indigenous; all the systems devised and the tools created are by our own experts.
He shared that census is an important national activity that is linked with resource allocation to provinces, representation in national/provincial assemblies and the delimitation process. Therefore, the credibility of census is of utmost importance. This is what called for comprehensive introspection leading to a solution acceptable to all - digital census.
He apprised the audience that after the results of the latest Census 2017 were approved in 45th CCI meeting held on 12th April, 2021, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) gave directions for the next census to start as early as possible and should be according to international best practices by using the latest technology. The Government of Pakistan then constituted a committee of renowned demographers and experts with comprehensive TORS, to bring transparency, credibility and wider acceptability of census processes and results. For this a board-based stakeholders’ engagement was carried out in order to have ownership of the process.
Addressing the seminar on the forthcoming Census 2023, Zafar said that following UN guidelines and detailed deliberations of the committee, it was decided that there ought to be clarity regarding the primary objectives of census – policy and planning. Ensuring universality, implying that counting of whole population residing in country at time of census should be done, irrespective of its status/whether one is holder of the CNIC or not. The exercise is of counting not of verification. Individual enumeration to carried out - information on each enumerated person to collected. It was also agreed upon that census must be conducted simultaneously and in shortest possible time, he said.
The chief statistician also added that a National Census Coordination Committee (N3C) has been developed at the national level in the House of the PBS. The N3C can be imagined as National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) that was set up during the pandemic. The N3C would have centralised decision making, having a control room with dashboards showing real-time progress, trends and analysis.
For the first time, self-enumeration method will also be used which is a two steps process. First, you will have to sign in on a portal and fill the form. Towards the end, it will provide you with a QR code. Save it with yourself. Later, when the enumerator knocks on your door, just show him the QR code. He would scan it and data will be saved into system. Moreover, geo-tagging of each structure, tablet-based and self-enumeration system will build the trust of stakeholders. 126,000 tablets will be used in the exercise. All checks and security measures are in place for breach or manipulation of the data.
He also said that PBS has conducted training of the digital census in three tiers i.e. training of master trainers, training of trainers (ToT) and training of enumerators. As of now, the pilot census has also been completed. All of this would be backed up by strict monitoring oversight with cross-checks and in-built checks within the systems.
Regarding the questionnaire, the chief statistician said that there are around 40 questions on eight broad themes. These include household, basic amenities, demography, education health, employment, disability, and migration.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Nadeemul Haque, vice chancellor (VC) PIDE said that the censuses remain controversial in Pakistan, at times delayed for over a decade. Now that we are moving towards the new census, it is time to raise all the concerns and questions we have.
It is pertinent to note that, the first-ever regular population census in the areas now comprising Pakistan, was held in 1881. Since then regular census were conducted after every 10 years up to 1981. Six censuses have been undertaken so far i.e. 1951, 1961, 1972, 1981, 1998, and latest in 2017.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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