The planned digital census in Pakistan will occur just before the 2023 elections. The procedure has often been put off, but it could eventually be completed by the end of this year or the beginning of 2023.
The federal administration plans to finish the census before the general elections in 2023, per the sources quoted by Business Recorder. Ahsan Iqbal, the Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives gave the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) instructions to expedite the country’s next digital census at a meeting on Monday at P-Block Secretariat.
Between July 20 and August 3, 2022, the digital census pilot phase was conducted in 417 census blocks spread across 83 Tehsils in four provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Ahsan Iqbal, the minister, said:
“We are already on a thin line and any delay in the process would create constitutional crises as the conduct of the next general election of 2023 depended on the census of 2022.”
The digital pilot census was effectively completed, and although there were a few flaws, these would be fixed before the final implementation, the head statistician at PBS informed the minister. In order to ensure the success of the census, he added that PBS is closely collaborating with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), the National Telecom Corporation (NTC), and SUPARCO.
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