PBS hosts workshop on population census

MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) hosted a sensitisation workshop on the 7th Digital Population and Housing Census, 2022.

The purpose of the workshop was to apprise the Provincial Government functionaries (Chief Secretary, relevant Secretaries, Divisional Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners) about the census process, tools, techniques, methodology and Provincial Government role in the smooth execution of the upcoming census. Further, the goal of the workshop was to bring transparency in the whole process to be adopted for broader involvement and ownership, as the census will be executed and monitored at the provincial level.

Chief Secretary, AJK, Muhammad Usman Chachar, was the chief guest. The workshop was attended by Senior Member Board of Revenue, Secretary Local Government, Secretary Education, other secretaries and additional secretaries, IG police, DG Health, DG IT Board, Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners from AJK.

Chief Statistician PBS, Dr Naeemuz Zafar, welcomed the guests and gave the background of the Census. He elaborated on the importance of census with the role of provinces and appraised the participants that the provinces are important stakeholders having a key role in planning, training, implementation, and monitoring, whereas, PBS will facilitate for smooth and transparent conduct of the census.

Member (Support Services/ Resource Management) PBS, Mr Muhammad Sarwar Gondal briefed on the forthcoming census, especially in terms of digital conduct of the census. He informed the audience about the role of different tiers of provincial administration at various stages of the census and emphasized that the digital census requires computer literate trainers and enumerators of the provincial government. During the question-answer session, officials from PBS responded to the queries of the participants. Chief Secretary, AJK, Muhammad Usman Chachar, appreciated the efforts of PBS for the confidence-building of its stakeholders.