The ongoing population census being conducted by the federal government has become controversial right from the start, experts told Pakistan Today. The census is carried out in two phases, starting with house listing which will be followed by a general census. As per the figures from the last census, the total population of the country in March 1998 was 130.58 million, of which Punjab was comprised of 72.5 million, Sindh 29.9 million, NWFP 15.5 million, Balochistan 6.5 million and Fata 3.1 million.
These shares were broadly in line with the percentage shares of the 1981 census, implying no consequential change in the number of seats in the assembly or the provinces’ shares of the National Finance Commission (NFC). However, the population has increased in large numbers since the last census in 1998. Various political forces and provincial governments have already expressed their reservations over the ongoing census.
The issues, which surround the ongoing drive, are more or less similar to the ones which surfaced during the last census. Former Punjab chief minister late Ghulam Haider Wyne had pointed out ‘unprecedented irregularities’ in the housing census, saying, “Punjab does not wants to lose its majority in the country’s population, along with its representation in the assemblies and its due share of national resources, due to a faulty census.”
Former finance minister Sartaj Aziz wrote in his book, “A country which cannot conduct a proper census does not have any credible basis for planning its development programmes and priorities.” He said a large number of enumerators that would actually undertake the exercise; the primary school teachers and lower grade officials in districts, were not under the effective control of the provincial governments. If local politicians convinced them that a higher count would give their province more seats in the National Assembly or larger resources through the NFC, they would exaggerate the numbers, he wrote.
A suggestion has already been floated which says that the share of provinces in the NFC should not be effected by the new census for the next ten years to address the reservations of all stakeholders. Another reservation put up by various stakeholders is the influence of local politicians over the enumerators. Experts demand that a supervisory mechanism should be introduced to maximise transparency. Experts believe that if the government did not consider all these reservations expressed by the stakeholders, the entire effort and money being put in it would go to waste.
They said different stakeholders would become vocal about the issues surrounding the census once the house listing is complete.
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