Call for accuracy in census process to ensure social justice

Speaking at the Rebuild Karachi Conference on Thursday, experts stressed the need for accuracy in the census process in order to ensure social justice in society.

Hosted at a hotel by the Jamaat-e-Islami under the Rebuild Karachi initiative, the conference was presided over by JI Karachi chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman. Stakeholders of the city belonging to the business community, the lawyers fraternity and other groups as well as technical experts shared their views at the event.

In his presidential address, Rehman said that a census is held to count the population of a region, and the only just formula for it is to count people where they live, not on the basis of the permanent address mentioned in their identity documents.

The JI leader said Karachi has become the largest city when it comes to the population of Pashtuns in the country. He said the city also houses the largest number of Saraiki, Baloch and probably Sindhi people in a single city.

After clarifying that it is a good sign that people with diverse ethnic backgrounds live in Karachi, he said the government and its institutions should count all those living in the city as Karachiites, instead of engaging in the cumbersome process of making changes in identity documents.

Rehman said the government has not provided access to the enumeration and listing data despite multiple demands, paving the way for manipulation in the available data. He praised the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) for its response to the calls of the JI and other stakeholders, but mentioned that the PBS has failed to fulfil its duties in some respects.

He pointed out that in response to the JI’s complaints, the bureau held combing operations in some areas of the city, then concluded that the complaints were justified, finding that the listing process was skipped in around 35 per cent of the areas.

He said the PBS is responsible for overseeing the entire process but it cannot fulfil its duty. The bureau should keep a close check on the situation, including the role of the federal and provincial governments and their officials, he added.

He clarified that it is not the JI that has made the census controversial but the people who have left gaps in the implementation of the process. Asking for rights should not be mistaken as causing unrest, he pointed out. He said Karachi is home to around 35 million people, clarifying that the figure is not a made-up one because the number of electricity and gas connections in the city prove it.

He explained that according to the power company’s data, 3.9 million electricity meters are installed in Karachi, not counting the number of legal and illegal connections in the suburbs and within the city.

He said that an average household in Karachi comprises some six individuals, and according to conservative estimates, an electricity meter is serving 1.5 to 1.75 households. Do some basic maths and add the legal and illegal connections to calculate the actual population of the city, he added.

As for natural gas, he said that 2.3 million domestic meters are installed in Karachi, adding that the North Nazimabad facility he lives in accommodates five families on the same plot and they all use the same meter.

Keeping in mind the joint family system and the portion-based housing style, he explained, let us assume that a single gas meter serves three households, then calculate the population. Rehman said the JI is playing its due role for Karachi and its people. We will be holding protests if the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Sindh government prefers the interests of feudal lords over 98 per cent of the common people in the province, he warned.

He said he also wants Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, the Sharif brothers and other national leaders to speak for the rights of Karachi like JI Pakistan chief Sirajul Haq and MNA Akbar Chitrali.

Census committee member Khawaja Mazhar Jamal said on the occasion that there are a lot of complaints about skipping houses in the listing process. He said that the scrutiny of a few blocks would be enough to clear the picture.