First phase of sixth census begins

ISLAMABAD: The first phase of the sixth population census, which is being carried out after 19 years, started today as all preparations have been finalised for the exercise.

During the first phase, the census would be conducted in 16 districts of Punjab, eight districts of Sindh, 14 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 15 districts of Balochistan, five districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and five districts of Gilgit-Baltistan.

“All the logistics and census staff have already been deployed in all these census districts to complete this important exercise in a transparent, smooth and secure atmosphere,” said the sources. Giving details, the sources said the census districts to be covered in Punjab during the first phase include Jhang, Chiniot, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Lahore, Hafizabad, Narowal, Sialkot, Vehari, Bahawalpur, Pakpattan and Attock. Likewise, in Sindh, the head-count would be held in districts of Karachi West, Karachi South, Karachi East Korangi, Karachi Central, Malir, Hyderabad and Ghotki. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the districts to be covered in the first phase of the census process include Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Nowshera, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Hangu, Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Battagram, and Torghar and Orakzai Agency of Fata.

In Balochistan, the districts of Awaran, Quetta, Lasbela, Dera Bugti, Kohlu, Musakhel, Washuq, Kharan, Kalat, Jaffarabad, Naseerabad, Pishin, Noshki and Lehri would be covered during the first phase.

However, the sources added that in Turbat the census is likely to spread over both the phases of the census exercise. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the first phase of census would be launched in Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Sudhnoti, Kotli and Bhimber. Similarly, in Gilgit-Baltistan, census during the first phase would be conducted in Gilgit, Baltistan, Ghanche, Nagar and Ghizer districts.

During the second phase, the census exercise would be conducted in 88 districts all across the country. The services of 84,000 enumerators would be utilised in collecting the data from about 168,120 census blocks across the country. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has reserved about 10 percent staff and supervisors, hence bringing the total staff for census to over 118,000. In addition to enumerators, 200,000 army personnel have been engaged for the exercise and one army soldier would be attached with one enumerator throughout the exercise. The Bureau has set March 18 as reference day and whosoever present in the country on the day would be included in the census.

“Who lived in a particular place from six months on the reference day, would be registered from that place,” the sources said. Overseas Pakistanis, living abroad for more than six months, would not be included in the exercise, while all the foreigners living in Pakistan for six months on reference day would be included in the exercise.

For the first time in the history of Pakistan, transgenders would be counted in the census.Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court on Tuesday directed the federal government and the PBS to ensure inclusion of separate column for persons with disabilities in the census.

Earlier, the Bureau’s Joint Commissioner Akbar Dogar admitted before the court that no particular column was inserted in the census form for the headcount of disabled persons. However, he said, a survey would be held in September next in some selected districts to reach an estimated population of special persons in the country.

Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said it was a very deplorable situation that no government institution had total count of disabled persons in the country. The CJ observed had the matter been raised timely the court would have definitely stopped the census process.

The chief justice disposed of the petition with direction to the government to ensure a separate column for disabled persons in the forms in the census. The Milestone Society for Special Persons filed a petition for the inclusion of information regarding special persons in the census.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) also ordered inclusion of the column about ‘handicapped’ people in the census data collection forms.

The bench comprising Justice Muneeb Akhtar, while hearing a petition, expressed surprise over the absence of the column about the handicapped people in the census forms and ordered inclusion of the column in the forms. The additional attorney general said he will write a letter to the federal government and other concerned departments about adding the column in the forms. The bench remarked that census is about to start and the schedule has already been released, adding that the government should have taken care of the matter itself.

Justice Muneeb Akhtar observed that the column was present in the previous census in 1998.A petition filed in the SHC said that Sindh had a population of about five million handicapped people, which reaches to over 20 million in the country. The petition prayed the court to order addition of the handicapped people in the census forms and stop the practice till the addition of the relevant column.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday also questioned the exclusion of information from the census forms pertaining to disability and sought an explanation from the PBS.A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard the petition filed by six disabled persons.

The court expressed concern over the exclusion of information regarding disabled persons. It observed that at this stage, the census process could not be halted, which is commencing from today (March 15). The chief justice inquired about the reasons to remove the column from the census forms related to disability.

Advocate Raheel Kamran Sheikh had filed the petition on behalf of six persons with disabilities under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, making the federal and provincial governments and the national and provincial councils for rehabilitation of disabled persons as respondents. They prayed the court to issue directives to all departments concerned to ensure collection of necessary data on the incidence of disability besides ensuring proper identification of persons with disabilities, documenting impairments and categorising types, causes, duration and severity of disabilities.

The petitioners contended that during the course of consultations with the PBS, they were assured that appropriate forms would contain questions in this regard. They informed the court that the earlier questionnaire generated by the PBS and shared with them contained questions, however, the most recent version of the form excluded all such questions for collecting information about persons with disabilities.

“It only deals with queries pertaining to demographic details of households,” the petitioners submitted.They said that such omissions in ‘Form 2’ meant that the census would actually be limited to a ‘headcount’ exercise and crucial information for addressing various social challenges, such as assisting persons with disabilities, would once again not be collected and, therefore, remain unavailable. The petitioners contended that if lawmakers and administrative functionaries continued to work with outdated data, they would continue to remain unaware of the actual number of people who needed specific intervention, treatment, training and rehabilitation.

The court adjourned the hearing until tomorrow (Thursday).