There are a lot of expectations from the holding of 6^th census. Every enumerator is accompanied by an army man. The purpose is to ensure there are minimal risks and threats to the lives of enumerators and that the respondents take the visiting teams seriously.

During the visits to the houses, the data is collected and for this the head of the household is the ideal person. In many cases, when the teams arrive, only women are present at home or some elderly people who cannot provide accurate information to enumerators. In some cases, people do not intentionally share exact information. For example, in case of a family living as tenants is not declared so to avoid property tax.

This raises the question about the credibility and accuracy of data collected by enumerators. Though coordination and vigilance committees have been set up at the district level, it is the head of the household who is responsible for providing authentic data. At many places, elected representatives at union council move around with the census team as they know about the houses they are visiting and their inmates.

The next question is whether there is a scientific means or some database to double-check the figures collected during this exercise or the entries made in the forms are treated as accurate by default?

Habibullah Khattak, Member Census at the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, says there is no foolproof method to verify the accuracy of the data they are collecting. "However, in suspicious cases we can send a person’s CNIC number to NADRA via an SMS and get details of his or her family tree."

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By suspicious cases, he means instances where the enumerators, supervisors, etc, find the body language of the respondent abnormal and contradictions in their statements. The SMS formula is used selectively as NADRA charges fee for verification and verifications of millions of households’ data will cost a huge amount.

Khattak explains that as census is a respondent-based exercise they have to trust the respondents. To make them come up with sincere answers, an awareness campaign has been launched in which people are told that it is their national duty to speak the truth. He says people are also warned of punishment that can be up to six months in prison and Rs50,000 in fine if they are found providing wrong information. "This serves as a deterrent and makes many disclose the required information."

One enumerator says there have been cases where the respondents have raised objections over the use of lead pencil for filling up of these forms. They suspect the entries made in front of them may be erased and changed, making them liable of punishment. He says some enumerators are using these against the order of the concerned authorities as they do not want to visit a place again if a correct entry is made in a wrong column or a correction has to be made. "For that a form will have to be filled afresh," he adds.