Finance Minister Ishaq Dar here on Thursday chaired a briefing session to seek an update on the second phase of population and housing census, 2017. The chief statistician, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), apprised the meeting that second phase of the census, which commenced on 25th April, would cover 88 districts throughout the country and continue till May 24, says a press release issued here.
In the second phase, twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi along with Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) would also be covered. The second phase, he said, is progressing smoothly in accordance with the schedule. The chief statistician added that all filled in census documents in respect of 63 districts covered in the first phase of the census have been safely received at the PBS headquarters.
The meeting was further informed that the government has already released the total allocated budget, ie Rs 18.5 billion for the census process. The finance minister said he was pleased to note that a team of international observers has expressed satisfaction over the census operation and it has added to the credibility and transparency of the drive that has now entered its second phase.
The finance minister appreciated and thanked the provincial chief secretaries, armed forces personnel and members of the law enforcement agencies for their co-operation and support in successful completion of the first phase of the census. He also lauded the hard work undertaken by the PBS and the census staff for smooth conduct of all census-related activities. He said that response from people and their support for the census process is overwhelming. He asked the PBS to keep up the good work with the same dedication in the second phase as was demonstrated in the first one. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed, secretary Statistics Division, chief statistician PBS and senior officials of the Finance Division attended the meeting.-PR
Comments
Comments are closed.