Census decision shows PM is concerned about Karachi: PTI

Hailing the federal cabinet’s approval of a decision to conduct a new census on a “de jour” basis with the help of modern technology, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Karachi leaders have said that residents and political stakeholders of the metropolis were not satisfied with the results of the previous national census and were showing concerns that the city’s population was not counted accurately.

“The prime minister’s announcement to conduct a new census is great news for the residents of Karachi and its shows that he and his government are very much concerned for the city,” said Khurram Sherzaman, the PTI Karachi chief and MPA, while addressing a press conference at the Insaf House, the party’s secretariat.

He said it was a global practice to conduct a census every five years. “The PTI’s federal government has plans to conduct the census in a modern way, and through counting population correctly, the provinces will be given their rights justly,” he said and added that the credit for conducting the new census went to federal minister Asad Umar and the federal cabinet.

Sherzaman said PM Imran Khan always spoke about free and fair elections in rallies and public gatherings. “We hope that the number of seats in the National Assembly will increase after the census,” he said.

The PTI leader said the correct census would facilitate the distribution of the National Financial Commission (NFC) and make the funds' distribution easier. He said conducting a new census was an important demand of the people of Karachi, and other political parties wanted to take credit for it.

Former Sindh Assembly opposition leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi said the issue of the census in the country had been controversial in the past. “Keeping it in mind, the prime minister is conducting a census in the country using modern technology,” he said.

Naqvi asked the Pakistan Peoples Party and its provincial government to let the federal government know now if they had any objection to the census process.