Govt extends census deadline for fourth consecutive time

For the fourth time since the launch of the ongoing digital census that started in March, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has extended the date of the census till April 30 to ensure that every person is enumerated, a statement from the bureau said.

The final date of the census has been extended by 5 days to April 30, according to the PBS.

A notification from the bureau said: “In pursuance of the meeting of Census, Monitoring Committee held on 15th April 2023, the Chief Census Commissioner/Chief Statistician, PBS has been pleased to approve the further extension in the census fieldwork for five days wef 26th April — 30th April 2023.”

According to the notification, the date has been extended due to negative growth rate in some districts and data verification in others to ensure “complete coverage and assurance of no leftover structure/houses in the selected districts/big cities where negative growth rate or very slow growth rate [has been] observed”.

According to the list provided by the bureau, there are 12 districts and cities across four provinces where the date has been extended due to the negative growth of population.

These include Quetta, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Hyderabad and Islamabad.

A decrease in population was observed in Karachi Central, South, West, East, Malir, Kemari, and Orangi.

Furthermore, a decrease or a small increase in population was also observed in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Hyderabad, and Quetta.

Moreover, data verification is in progress in 11 districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

“The respective provincial government may also continue the physical verification process in 11 districts up to 30th April 2023 for ensuring complete coverage,” the notification said.

These districts include Gujranwala, Sialkot, Jhelum, Gujrat, Sheikhupura, Attock, Chakwal, Peshawar, D I Khan, Abbottabad, and Tank.

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 fourth time that the date for the population count has been extended. Earlier, the PBS extended its date till April 10, 15, and 20 respectively.