Karachi’s population has increased by only 1.4m, claims official

KARACHI: Amid unresolved controversies regarding the ongoing seventh population census, especially Karachi’s enumeration, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Sindh Director Munawwar Ali Ghangro shared the latest figures Saturday.

Ghangro said the metropolis’ population had increased by 1.4 million to rise over 17.4 million, according to the latest figures. Moreover, Sindh’s population has jumped by 6.46 million to reach 54.31 million.

The latest figures come a day after the PBS briefed representatives of political parties about the ongoing census, which is being conducted digitally for the first time.

Earlier, it was reported that some initial results of the ongoing digital population census had witnessed serious “abnormal results”, especially in Balochistan and Sindh.

In Balochistan, the population growth witnessed a surge of 7.8% and initial assessment showed that there were certain divisions such as Panjgur, Makran, Rakshan, and others where the population growth witnessed higher than normal growth.

Karachi — the country’s largest city — witnessed a population growth of just 0.4% while rural Sindh saw a phenomenal growth of close to 9%. Similarly, initial results suggest the population of Karachi and Lahore stood close to each other in the range of around 16 million.

Several political parties, including the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), have raised objections to the census, especially on overcounting and undercounting in some areas.

The MQM-P — a key ally of the ruling coalition in the Centre — had reportedly also asked its parliamentarians to hand in their resignations over the census issue. Subsequently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal to address the objections.

A committee was also formed to look into the issues.

On Thursday, PBS officials briefed political leaders on the ongoing census, including the process and figures obtained so far.

Talking to the media after the briefing, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said his ministry wanted to ensure the census was conducted in a way that was “acceptable to all”.

“The enumeration process in urban areas has been slow,” he acknowledged. “Similarly, counting could not be done in remote areas. Some areas saw an unusual increase in population.”

It has been decided to speed up the counting process, the minister shared.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, who addressed the media alongside Iqbal, said he had apprised the PBS of his concerns.

“Half of Karachi’s population has not been counted. We have asked the [PBS] to identify where populations have been under or overcounted.” PBS has been executing the ongoing census digitally for the first time in the country’s history, with census field operations commencing on March 1 without any interruption.

However, it has been extending its deadline for completing the census work. Most recently, it extended the date for the fifth time to May 15.