CM asks Centre to conduct census

NOWSHERA: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Saturday asked the federal government to conduct census in the country.

Addressing a gathering here, he said the provincial government had never demanded that the census should be conducted under the supervision of the army.

“This is rubbish. We have confidence in civil servants. They are capable of accomplishing this task,” he asserted.

On the occasion, several activists belonging to the Pakistan People’s Party and Awami National Party announced joining the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Those who joined the PTI included former nazim Sayyar Khan, Mian Iqbal Shah, Zahoor Khan, Mohammad Irshad, Gul Wali, Irfan, Bashir and others.

Pervez Khattak said that the provincial government had introduced reforms in all sectors. He said political interference in government departments had been done with.

The chief minister said the condition of the government hospitals and schools had been improved and now the doctors and teachers were performing duties.

Sherpao hails SC directives on census: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) head Aftab Sherpao on Saturday welcomed the directives of the Supreme Court asking the federal government to hold census.

In a statement, he added the fresh data from the census would enable the government to ensure equitable distribution of resources among the federating units.

Aftab Sherpao said the last census was held in 1998 and the next one was due in 2008, but it has been pending since then.

He added his party had raised this issue on a number of occasions, but the government was least bothered to take action. “There is no law, which makes it binding on the government to conduct census time to time. Conducting census is very important as updated statistics are needed to set targets in every field, particularly in health and education,” he maintained. 

He said that in the absence of accurate data, the population census can be manipulated to maintain the demographic hegemony of one region over the others.

“The government departments set wrong targets as there is not fresh data and the planning is based on guesswork, which affects performance,” Sherpao added.

Aftab Sherpao said that the census would determine the exact population of each province. “The smaller federating units, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will get its due share and representation in the parliament,” he concluded.