Digital census date extended for third time

The date for completion of Pakistan's first-ever digital census was extended for the third time by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Saturday

The PBS has now extended the date to complete the ongoing census work till April 20, the agency's spokesperson said.

Census work will continue in cities including Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, while the date has also been extended in 20 more districts including Sindh’s Jacobdabad, as well as the Balochistan province.

The development came during a meeting of the census monitoring committee, which was presided by the Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal.

Syed Aminul Haque, information technology minister and a leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, a party which has voiced concerns against the ongoing census, was also present at the meeting.

The PBS spokesperson said that the census of 122 districts across the country has been completed. According to the census completed so far, the population of Pakistan has crossed over 230.4 million.

PBS has been executing the ongoing census digitally for the first time in the country's seventh population count in history, with census field operations commencing on March 1 without any interruption.

However, the government body has been extending its deadline for completing the census work to ensure proper execution of the remaining count and ensure 100% coverage.

This is the third time that the date for the population count has been extended. Earlier, the PBS extended its date till April 15 and 10, respectively.