PAC panel calls for legal cover to hold census regularly

ISLAMABAD: The sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Statistics Division to provide legal cover for holding the population census after every 10 years.
The sub-committee, which met here on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Rana Muhammad Afzaal, discussed the implementation status of the audit paras relating to the Statistics Division and the Narcotics Control Division.
Director General Pakistan Bureau of Statistics Asif Bajwa told the sub-committee that there was no legal bar on holding the population census after every 10 years and it was also mentioned in the 2011 Act that the federal government would conduct the population census from time to time.
He told the committee that the population census was regularly conducted in 1951, 1961, 1971 and 1981 and in 1998. He told the committee that the population census was scheduled for 2008 and preparation for it had started in 2006 but it was postponed.
“A decision was taken in the meeting of the Council of Common Interests for holding the population census in March-April 2016. It will be population and housing census to be conducted simultaneously,” he told the committee.
Rana Muhammad Afzal suggested provision of legal cover for holding the population census after every 10 years.The audit officials told the sub-committee that the Statistics Division had paid Rs110 million to advertisement company Midas for advertisement in 1998 before the population census survey. They were of the opinion that the advertisement contract should have been given through open bidding.
The officials of the Statistics Division told the committee that this contract was awarded through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.The committee has summoned the officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and law ministry for the next meeting.
The panel was informed that opium cultivation had increased in the country as in 2001 opium was cultivated over 7,000 hectares of land but now the area under opium cultivation had increased to 200,000 hectares.Secretary Narcotics Control Division told the committee that the Narcotics Control Division was faced with resource constraints, both human and financial.