KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi on Monday sought a date extension for the census till April 30 to see the completion of the entire city’s population is counted, blaming the government for ‘ruining’ the credibility of the people’s enumeration.

“The government has ruined the authenticity of the census 2023,” JI Karachi Chief, Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman told a press conference at Idara Noor-e-Haq.

He also criticized the PDM government for turning the census into a ‘joke’ at the cost of taxpayers’ money to the tune of billions of rupees.

He asked the government to extend the census date till April 30 to ensure counting of an each and every person residing in the city and demanded for a committee with stakeholders on board and access to the enumeration data to make the entire process transparent.

He cast doubts over the entire enumeration process, saying that population in ‘thousands of blocks’ have not been counted in the city.

The exclusion of blocks from census is a direct ‘attack’ on the city’s future, which will result in reduction of allocations of resources for its development, he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023