The Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Monday decided to postpone a population census planned for March due to unavailability of army personnel and manpower for the countrywide headcount.
The CCI, in its first meeting in nearly a year, was expected to approve a revised action plan for the population and housing census.
A new date will be given after consultations with stakeholders, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Earlier, the census was planned for March, after a gap of about 16 years, with security and other arrangements afoot to make it a success.
While chairing the meeting, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif decided to postpone the much-awaited headcount, urging that all the stakeholders involved in the process should be taken on-board.
The meeting decided that a next meeting of the council, scheduled for March 25, will discuss national flood protection plan, with minister for power and four chief ministers presenting a comprehensive plan.
The meeting also approved a draft of Securities and Exchange Commission bill.
On February 27, Pakistan Army assured the government that it would review the number of troops it can commit for monitoring the census.
The GHQ initially committed 100,000 troops, which is about one-fourth of the initial requirements pitched by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics to monitor and supervise the census and maintain law and order during the exercise.
CENSUS DELAY:
The meeting discussed in detail the issue of conducting census in the country. Secretary Statistics Division Shahid Hussain Asad apprised the meeting about preparations made for conducting census in the country.
It was informed that the country had been divided into 166,819 blocks for which a staff of 210,239 heads was required. The meeting was told that since the Armed Forces of Pakistan were engaged in the ongoing military operation Zarb-e-Azb, deployment of required Army personnel in March/April for conducting the census throughout the country was not possible.
Earlier, a local newspaper quoted a government official as saying that the revised action plan would seek more time from the CCI to hold the census. “It will be delayed by a few weeks,” the source said, adding that preparations for the grand survey were well under way.
But another official claimed that the exercise could be delayed until summer, when staff from the education department would be on vacation.
The first census in Pakistan was conducted in 1951, the second in 1961 and the third in 1972 instead of 1971 due to political turmoil. The fourth census was held in March 1981 and the fifth, which was due in 1991, wasn’t conducted till March 1998, with the help of the Army.
Census is deemed to be one of the basic elements for judicious distribution of resources, representation in parliament, electoral processes, tax collection and other civic issues, including growing urbanisation and evaluation of resources for infrastructure development.
Under the Constitution, the government is bound to conduct the population census after every 10 years.
IRREGULARITIES IN KACHI CANAL PROJECT:
The meeting observed that massive illegalities were involved in the conception, execution and completion of Kachi Canal project. It was informed that initially the project was approved by ECNEC at a cost of Rs 31.2 billion in the year 2003, however, later the PC-I was revised with an inflated cost of more than Rs 57 billion.
It was observed that the project was started prior to the approval of feasibility study and PC-I. The prime minister noted with concern the illegal releases of funds to a project without its approval. He said that all those, who started the project and released funds in violation of the rules and procedures, must be identified and penalised according to the law.
“The country cannot face such misadventures at the cost of public money. Whether departments or individuals, those responsible must be made answerable to the people of Pakistan for such faulty projects,” the prime minister said.
The inquiry commission that will investigate the project will be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a high court while Ministry of Water and Power secretary, Planning and Reforms secretary and the Finance secretary will be its members, it was decided in the meeting. Underlining the significance of the project for Pakistan, the prime minister said that fresh feasibility study along with implementation plan should be prepared on immediate basis.
NATIONAL FLOOD PROTECTION:
The meeting observed that National Flood Protection Plan was of paramount national importance and therefore agreed to take it up as a single item agenda in the upcoming CCI meeting.
The CCI decided that comprehensive feasibility studies in consultation with all the provinces and stakeholders must be carried out before presenting the same in its next meeting to be held on March 25.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah lauded the prime minister for the historic water accord of 1991 and said that it was a faultless mechanism of water distribution among the provinces. The chief minister further thanked the prime minister for the recently inaugurated Rs 16 billion Green Line bus project in Karachi.
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak thanked the prime minister for resolving the longstanding issues of payment of net hydel profit and net hydel arrears as well as for the Chashma Right Bank Uplift Canal. The KP chief minister said that some of the hydel projects of the province still required approval.
The prime minister said that the projects must be submitted for approval of the federal government without any delay. The meeting discussed the agenda item of Pakistan Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Bill 2014. The council was informed that the bill had been passed by the parliament and that the decision in this regard stood implemented.
The meeting was informed that the agenda item Public Debt Management and Supervision Policy also stood implemented.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Pir Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi, Minister for SAFRON Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch, Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Minister for Petroleum Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, CM Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, CM KP Pervez Khattak, CM Balochistan Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri, Secretary to PM Fawad Hassan Fawad, Chief Secretary Punjab Khizar Hayat Gondal, Chief Secretary Sindh Siddique Memon, Chief Secretary KP Amjad Ali Khan and Chief Secretary Balochistan Saifullah Chatha.
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