Summarised results of census to be presented to CCI on July 31

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has shared the 'Summarised Results' of the Population and Housing Census 2017 with the Finance Division after which it has been decided that it would be presented in the upcoming meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) likely to be held on July 31, the sources told The News here on Wednesday. 

"The Summarised Results include province and district wise population of the entire country. It also gives separately total number of male, female and transgender community. The complete data of the Population and Housing Census 2017 will be made available in April next year," the sources said.

A senior official of PBS who requested anonymity told this correspondent that the compilation of the data related to the Population and Housing Census would take at least nine more months so they are not sure whether Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would be able to get any benefit from it vis-à-vis next general elections.

To a question, the official said when the 'Summarised Results' would be presented in the meeting of the CCI then it can be made public by the provincial authorities, adding "Leakage of some initial 'Summarised Results' in the recent past resulted in a full-fledged inquiry against some senior officials so they are now avoiding talking to media directly on the data related to the Population and Housing Census."

"Some initial statistics related to the Population Census 2017 appeared in the media after which it was decided to launch an inquiry into the leakage of sensitive information.

The mobile phone and email record of some officials were acquired with the help of intelligence agencies to ascertain the truth," the official said.

The official said the mobile phone data of these officials were reviewed and at least two officials were asked to clear their position, adding "The main reason to launch inquiry was to give a clear message to the officials that any leakage of data related to the Population Census would not be tolerated at any cost."

According to the leaked information, the population of Pakistan has crossed 210 million and the population of Karachi now stands at 23.135 million (2 crore, 31 lakh and 35 thousand) that is more than the total population of 177 countries.

Currently, the number of National Assembly seats according to the respective population in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhawa (KP) is 35; Fata 12; Islamabad 2; Punjab 148; Sindh 61; and Balochistan 14. While registered voters in KP are 12,266,157 (NA-1 to NA-35); Fata 1,738,313 (NA-36 to NA-47); Islamabad 625,964 (NA-48 and NA-49); Punjab 49,259,334 (NA-50 to NA-197); Sindh 18,963,375 (NA-198 to NA-258); and Balochistan 3,336,659 (NA-259 to NA-272).

Replying to another question, the official said there is no truth in the rumours that those who have provided data about their income, property and assets would face investigation by the income tax authorities. 

The official also gave reference of a report that stated that PBS had refused to share details with the Abbottabad Commission in the aftermath of assassination of Osama Bin Laden by citing law of the land under which it was their obligation to maintain secrecy of data collected through house listing and population census exercise.

According to PBS, the main objectives of the census include planning and execution of decennial population and housing census; processing and dissemination of data in the form of census reports; analysis of census data and demographic research; evaluation of census results; sample studies/surveys in related areas; supply of overall census data to the data users; and tabulation of data to meet specific demands of data users.

When contacted, Member Census Habibullah Khattak told The News that they have compiled the 'Summarised Results' of the Population and Housing Census 2017 and it would be most likely presented in the upcoming meeting of the CCI.

"The final report regarding data of the census will be completed till April next year because we have to go through some 55 million forms and we have also informed the relevant departments about it like the ECP," he said.