ISLAMABAD: The questionnaire for the 2022 census has been finalised by the advisory committee and a summary has been forwarded to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) for approval, Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar was informed on Friday.

Mr Umar was chairing the third progress review meeting on the 7th Population and Housing Census 2022, the digital census.

In a detailed presentation on the work plan and the progress made, the meeting was informed that the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) was strictly following the timelines and was so far on track to finalise the data in December 2022 for provision to the Election Commission of Pakistan for the delimitation process ahead of 2023 general elections.

The participants were informed that the federal cabinet on Oct 5 had already approved the recommendations of the census advisory committee for forwarding them to the CCI.

Asad Umar chairs meeting to review progress made for holding the exercise in 2022

Keeping in view the challenging timelines and gigantic activity of the first-ever digital census, the PBS was collaborating with different national organisations like National Telecommunication Communication, National Database and Registration Authority, Space and Upper Atmos­phere Research Commission, and National Radio and Telecom­muni­cation Corporation for the provision of services to complete the exercise in a successful manner, the meeting was informed.

Detailed consultative meetings held with all stakeholders and all major preparatory activities will be completed by the end of March next year.

The participants were further informed that an advertisement has also been prepared for hiring a firm for a social media campaign for the public.

Mr Umar said that PBS should initiate the sharing of all activities of the census for awareness of all stakeholders, the provinces must be involved in all processes, and sensitisation seminars may be held at each provincial headquarter for awareness and broader involvement of all stakeholders.

He emphasised that quality of services along with timeliness must be kept in mind before finalising the potential partners.

He further said that proper monitoring of all activities with Gantt charts must be done professionally through specialised software for timely completion of activities.

The meeting was also attended by the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, secretary planning development and special initiatives, and PBS chief statistician, among others.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2021