The Numbers Game
This is not the first time that a census has been delayed. Previously, the census conducted in 1972 was originally due in 1971, but due to war with India and separation of East Pakistan, census was delayed for a year. Similarly the 1998 census was also a delayed activity due to lack of political stability in the country. At present, is a delay in census of almost two decades now, justified?
How effectively can a family be run and looked after if its head was unaware of the exact number of family members? How would one devise its budget and manage the overall finances efficiently? Could such a family ever prosper?
The answer to all of the aforementioned questions is a NO, with a capital “N” followed by a capital “O”. Now a serious question arises, if a family is impossible to be looked after without knowing the number of dependents, how can an entire country be? Pakistan’s case, at present, is very much similar to this family, where the democratically elected government has merely an assumption on the number of citizens it has to cater to. Policies, whether socio-economic, financial, security, tax collection, all are being made on vague population figures, rather than solid and accurate database. The reliability of these numbers is questionable even to the most common person.
Pakistan has been running without a census for almost two decades now, 18 years to be precise, as the last census was conducted by the government in 1998, according to which the then total population of the country was 134,714,017. By law and constitution, population census must be conducted after every 10 years, and the state is bound to fulfill this obligation. The 6th population census was due to be carried out in 2008, which was delayed due to vulnerable security situation, and lack of finances available to the PPP government. Following its election in 2013, the sitting government announced to conduct the census, which was later allocated with Rs. 14.5 Billion in 2014-15 Budget, till date remains yet another promise unfulfilled.
The 6th census is now being considered to be held between November 2016 and March 2017, something to look forward to.
A Threat to Political Status Quo?
This is not the first time that a census has been delayed. Previously, the census conducted in 1972 was originally due in 1971, but due to war with India and separation of East Pakistan, census was delayed for a year. Similarly the 1998 census was also a delayed activity due to lack of political stability in the country. At present, is a delay in census of almost two decades now, justified? The country, today, is in no worse situation than 1971, which was the point of disintegration. Then what is really causing this delay?
Lack of availability of financial resources, unfavorable security conditions in the country, inadequate security personnel at disposal to carry out the activity, are few of major issues highlighted by the governments when delaying the census activity. But a delay of 8 years, really?
The biggest reason for this delay, many claim, is the ill-will on part of government to proceed with the census, as they are more interested in maintaining the political status quo. A census declaring exact population of the country, explaining the demographic shift from rural to urban parts of the country could prove to be a game changer, as seats allocated in the National Assembly will be devised by the new demographics. The new population would also change the employment quota allocated to provinces in government jobs. And last but not the least, the allocation of financial resources to provinces would also be affected, not to forget that the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, already, has always remained a major cause of discoed between the provinces.
An interesting fact is that the military is not only being called in to provide security to the entire census activity, but also to ensure credibility of the process, and this demand itself has been made by democratic political parties, expressing their lack of faith in the government’s governance. So basically, democracy doesn’t believe in democracy.
All in all, the impression that the political parties causing this unnecessary delay, have placed their political interest prior to the national interest, may very well be false, yet it holds the weight to gain and form public opinion, which will certainly be a set back to the democratic thought. The political parties, especially the one forming the government, must sit together and falsify this growing impression by conducting the census anyways.
Governance not Government….
Democracy in our country, unfortunately, cannot walk unless provided with a support walker of the Military. It is an irony that our democratically elected governments have failed, not just in the past, but at present also, in strengthening the institutions and enhancing their capability to meet enormity of challenges the country is faced with. Every outstanding challenge, whether a natural calamity, curbing the menace of terror and extremity, or task aimed at national development, all require assistance from the military, without which these challenges seem impossible to be met, even by the political parties and the institutions themselves.
We are very eager to involve the military in governance, whenever faced with challenges, but don’t want the military to take over the government, many anti-democracy elements may justify their case.
An interesting fact is that the military is not only being called in to provide security to the entire census activity, but also to ensure credibility of the process, and this demand itself has been made by democratic political parties, expressing their lack of faith in the government’s governance. So basically, democracy doesn’t believe in democracy.
Enriched with discipline and competence, assistance from military may definitely be sought to overcome national challenges, however, along with calling military every now and then to get the job done, the democratically elected governments must pay attention to strengthening other institutions, and equipping them with the desired technical, financial, and human resource competence enabling them to fill the existing gaps.
The Next Move…..
Acting in imperfect conditions must be the next move for the government, and democracy at large. Waiting for ideal conditions to be in place has, and will always result in inaction which is the mother of all evils. It is high time for the government to conduct the long due 6th census, and generate credible stats on population so that the socio-economic planning of the country could be worked on accordingly.
Not to forget, that strengthening the national institutions must also remain a primary focus, so that burden of the military could be shared, and the elite security institution could focus on its prime objective.
