SCHEDULED to begin on March 15, the much delayed national census is expected to be a mammoth exercise, with 91,000 trained civilian enumerators accompanied by 200,000 army personnel. It is expected to cover over 168,000 census blocks countrywide.

A Dawn special report examines why the sixth census — intended to map demographic trends with the target of planning long-term development — will be a flawed exercise. One reason is that it is not expected to go beyond a nationwide headcount, according to sources within the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the organisation tasked with conducting the census. Failure to document necessary socioeconomic data demonstrates that this exercise will defeat the purpose of conducting a census — an exercise for which enormous financial allocations and manpower have been earmarked.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2017