PESHAWAR: The first digital census began in the provincial capital and other districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday.

Caretaker Chief Minister Mohammad Azam Khan launched the digital census, which is the 7th national census in the country.

A statement issued here said a ceremony to this effect was held at the Chief Minister’s House, which was also attended by officials of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Azam Khan kicked off the census by writing enumeration numbers at the gate of the Chief Minister’s House.

On the occasion, he said the census was of vital importance with regard to comprehensive planning for national development. He said equitable distribution of resources as well as development strategies were planned on the basis of statistics obtained through census.

He said census indicated increasing ratio of population and distribution of urban and rural population in addition to determining important socioeconomic factors in the society.

The caretaker CM said digital census was being conducted for the first time in the history of Pakistan in which modern technology was being used as opposed to the traditional method of census. He said under the digital census mechanism, citizens had been provided the facility of self-registration.

Azam Khan remarked that it was the national obligation of every citizen to ensure accurate data entry of his family members during the census exercise. He appealed to the public to fully cooperate with the census teams to make it a success.

The digital census was also launched in Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Abbottabad, Charsadda, Bajaur and other districts of the province.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2023