The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday extended fieldwork of the first-ever digital census for five more days till April 15 on the recommendations of provincial governments.

On April 5, the PBS had said that more than 90 per cent of work was completed in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, according to official data released, Islamabad and Balochistan trailed significantly behind, with 72pc and 62pc work completed so far, respectively,

The brief and sketchy details shared by the PBS had also referred to the contribution of 121,000 field enumerators, who had made the exercise possible within the stipulated period, which was revised when the bureau extended the last date of field operations from April 4 to 10 earlier.

In a press release issued today, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, Chief Census Commissioner Dr Naeem uz Zafar approved the extension in the census fieldwork for “complete coverage and assurance of no leftover houses” in 19 cities.

These cities include Quetta, Pishin, Khuzdar, Panjgur, Kech, Kohlu, Washuk, Gwadar, Zhob, Lasbela, Chaghi, Nushki, Mastung, Hernai, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Gilgit, and Islamabad.

The PBS chief statistician directed to convey instructions pertaining to the extensions in the census field operations to the field staff and other concerned authorities for the “smooth completion” of operations.

“The security-related institutions may also be conveyed for the security arrangements of census field staff till the extended time of April 15,” the statement concluded.

The PBS will have to submit the data on April 30.

The field enumeration of the first-ever digital census, earlier scheduled for Feb 1, kicked off on March 1. The self-enumeration option through an online portal was launched on February 20 and continued till March 3.

In October 2021, the previous government gave the go-ahead to the digital census and scheduled its launch for the same month in 2022, which was then deferred to February 2023.

‘Encouraging and satisfactory’ overall progress

In another press release, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the PBS said field operations continued without any interruption till April 10, terming the overall progress as “encouraging and satisfactory”.

“The successful execution of the digital census is a great success and it is a moment of great pride for the nation as it is the largest South Asian digital census to date,” it said.

The statement added that collecting data from 97pc of listed households through tablets was a “tremendous achievement” and would “pave the way of [a] new era for [a] prosperous Pakistan”.

“Only less than 3pc census field work left particularly in metropolitan cities of various provinces and other few cities of Balochistan,” it said.

“The census fieldwork has been completed over 99pc in Punjab, 98pc in Sindh, 90pc in Islamabad and 82pc in Balochistan,” it added, further saying that it was almost complete in KP and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The statement highlighted that 100pc census work was completed in 131 out of 156 districts across the country while 70-80pc work was completed in the remaining 25 districts.

“Work completion percentage may slightly increase after synchronisation of data from some completed blocks which fall in the offline zone,” the statement said.

“In order to complete the leftover census work and ensure the completed coverage, details of the cities along with additional time required to complete remaining work was solicited from the provincial governments for extending the census operation on customised basis only for those cities where census work is yet to be completed.”

Toll-free number to schedule PBS visit

The statement also advised the public to inform PBS on its 24/7 toll-free number 0800-57574 for lodging complaints about non-coverage. Citizens can also send their complete address through SMS on 9727.

“They can also visit or contact PBS regional offices or the 495 Census Support Centre established at the tehsil level for lodging their complaints regarding non-coverage.”

The PBS also urged citizens to extend cooperation and full participation in the verification of their data through randomly generated calls through the Computer Assisted Telephonic Interview (CATI) that ensures the quality of data through the Post Enumeration Survey.

“Participation in the census is not only our moral, and legal obligation but also provides the opportunity for the government to develop evidence-based policy planning for ensuring our rights and better service delivery at our doorstep.”

The PBS thanked the nation and all stakeholders for their tireless effort and unwavering support to accomplish the “gigantic task of paramount importance” for the nation’s prudent policy and planning.

Political grievances

On April 9, Muttahidda Qaumi Movement-Pakistan had accused the authorities of deliberately keeping the count of Karachi’s population lower than the real and warned that if its concerns were not addressed, the party could take to the streets and stage a sit-in on Sharea Faisal.

It had also expressed the apprehension that up to “eight million” people might remain uncounted in Karachi alone.

“There are several areas mainly in Karachi and Hyderabad where enumerators have not reached yet and people remain uncounted,” MQM-P had said in a statement.

“Similarly, enumerators deliberately kept the number population low wherever the digital census was conducted. For instance, a family of eight or nine is recorded as a unit of four or five people. The majority of high-rise residential buildings remain uncounted where people are still waiting for enumerators,” it had added.

Last month, the PPP-led Sindh government had insisted that it would reject the results of the seventh population census if its concerns were not addressed.

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon had said that the government decided to take a firm position on the digital census until the federal government announces measures in its favour.

“If our reservations are not addressed, we will not accept the results of the digital census,” he had warned.