Centre approves official release of Census-2017 data

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Monday approved the official release of the Census-2017 results which had been withheld for the last couple of years, Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar confirmed.

The decision was taken during a virtual meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) — a body that resolves the disputes of power-sharing between the federation and provinces — with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair.

Following the meeting, Umar held a press conference, saying majority of the provinces had agreed to accept the results of the Census-2017 and officially publish them.“Since elections are held on the basis of the census, we will begin preparations for the next census in September or October this year,” the minister said, adding work on the basic structure of carrying out census will be completed within six to eight weeks.

“We will complete the new census by March 23,” Umar announced. “The government will also form constituencies on the basis of the new census data before the general elections of 2023.”He added that for the upcoming census — which will take 18 months to complete — the government will use technology as well as the principles related to the census laid out by the United Nations.

It may be recalled here that the 44th meeting of the CCI had taken place last week in which different provinces expressed their opinions regarding the release of the Census-2017 data, after which the council had decided convening a virtual meeting on Monday to make a final decision in this regard.

Sources told Geo News that while Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa insisted on releasing the census data, Sindh demanded the census be held anew in the province so that the consolidated data could be released together. During the last meeting, Balochistan had said it needed more time to deliberate over the matter.