KARACHI – The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-Sindh has demanded the federal government to appoint a provincial census commissioner on the recommendation of the Sindh government at the earliest. Taj Haider – PPP leader and provincial government’s spokesman – made this demand while talking to media personnel at his office on Monday after attending a meeting of the party’s provincial executive committee with Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah in chair. The federal government is going to carry out a population census this year, and housing units’ census would be carried out from April 5 to 20 in the first phase.
Haider demanded that the field staff to be involved in the population census should be appointed from the Sindh Education Department under the supervision of the provincial government. Besides, all provincial governments should make public delimitations and maps through websites and invite objections on the delimitations, he said. The PPP leader said that the federal government would have to appoint a provincial census commissioner for conducting the population census, but no action has so far been taken in this regard. The Sindh CM has already asked the federal government to make the appointment, he added.
He said that the PPP has convened an important meeting at provincial level on Friday (March 25) in Hyderabad to discuss and participate in the population census. The party’s Members of the Provincial Assembly, Members of the National Assembly, ticket holders, and provincial presidents have been invited to attend the meeting, he added. Haider said that before the Hyderabad meeting, the PPP provincial executive committee’s meeting would be held in Karachi on Thursday (March 24), in which the officials of the Provincial Census Office would brief the party leadership about preparations. He said that the Sindh Information Department is also launching a media campaign for creating awareness among the people regarding the population census.
During the drive, the people would also be informed about the difference between voters’ lists and population census, he added. A monitoring committee has been formed that would be headed by Taj Haider to monitor the arrangements, work and complaints in this regard. Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah, PPP Media Cell In-Charge Sharjeel Inam Memon and PPP Karachi leader Lal Bux Bhutto are also a part of the committee. Taj Haider said that accurate maps are needed to point out exact location of the areas, whereas the maps available with the Revenue Department are not updated. Therefore, the government is updating the maps with satellite images, and these are being matched with the maps already available with the Revenue Department, he added.
Referring to differences between the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the PPP leader rejected ECP’s apprehension regarding authenticity of the voters’ lists in Sindh. He said that many people had no Computerised National Identity Cards because they are not registered with NADRA. Besides, many people belonging to other parts of the country are registered as voters in the province, he added. Taj Haider said that the government is also working on introducing computerised thumb-based ballot paper system in the general elections for ensuring transparency.
“The main reason that a demand for holding mid-term elections is being made is to block such steps,” he said. The PPP wants to found the practice of a clean and transparent election system in the country, he added.
