ISLAMABAD: Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah on Wednesday called on the federal government to hold a fresh census to determine the country’s current population statistics.

In a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader said that the last census was carried out in 1998 and no survey has been conducted since the past 15 years.

Shah said a new census is a constitutional requirement for the development program and also for the determination of seats in the assemblies.

“To make resources compatible with persisting problems, census remains a crucial step,” he added.

Pakistan was due to conduct a fresh census in 2008. The previous coalition government, led by the PPP, tried to carry out the census in 2011, but eventually left it incomplete.

The Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) was in power the last time the census was carried out in Pakistan in 1998.