PBS extends date for self-enumeration after MQM-P's demand

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has extended the date of self-enumeration for the Population Census 2023 following "popular demand".

A Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) spokesperson confirmed to Geo News that the date for self-enumeration for the seventh census has been extended by seven days (March 10).

The development comes days after Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) objected to the time allotted for carrying out the census while calling for extending the time specified for the three phases of self-enumeration, house enumeration and census.

The decision to extend the date for the self-enumeration of the country's first digital census — which was initially scheduled to end tonight (March 3) at 12am — was taken during the relevant committee’s meeting.

The spokesperson maintained that the date has been extended keeping in view the convenience of the people.

The spokesperson said the authorities are also mulling over extending it beyond a week. He added that the website is also down repeatedly as a lot of people are accessing it.

"Till now, eight million people have self-enumerated themselves. The process of self-enumeration began on February 20," the spokesperson added.