THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘New census’ (April 15) which completely missed the key point that census 2017 was conducted on de jure method which counts migrants from other provinces/places in the population of provinces/places where they had migrated from, and not in the population of where they presently resided.

This ‘deliberate fault’ in counting methodology caused a short count of 15 million persons in Sindh’s population. The Pakistan People’s Party blocked the passage of the 24th Amendment to the Constitution — related to the use of provisional figures of Census 2017 for delimitation — for about three months in the Senate till an all-party agreement for a recount in five per cent randomly selected population blocks on internationally recognised de facto method, which entails counting every resident living in a household irrespective of where one had come from, was signed and the figures were corrected. I happened to be the PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate at that time.

Unfortunately, the PML-N government went back on the signed agreement. The present Council of Common Interests (CCI) has also completely ignored this signed agreement and perpetuated the injustice.

Alternative population figures of every province, based on Unicef’s multi-indicator cluster survey, presented by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to the CCI were also not taken into account.

It is strange that the chief minister of Balochistan, whose province was a co-sufferer with Sindh, chose to validate the census figures in the CCI meeting.

It is not technology, but honesty and correct counting methodology that will make the difference. The British conducted their censuses without using any technology and no one doubted the figures which became the basis of partition of India.

Technology in the hands of the oversmart will further complicate the issue.

Senator Taj Haider

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2021