KARACHI: Enumerators from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) going door to door to collect data for the population census have been facing a number of issues coming in the way of their work.

Dawn has talked to many enumerators and the common complaint emerged is that people are not cooperating with them.

“They may also be right about not trusting a stranger asking for personal information. But they don’t even cooperate after we present them with proof of our identity,” said a member of a census team. “They say that they see messages on WhatsApp and other social media warning them against sharing personal information with anyone,” he added.

“We are all teachers — government officials. Doesn’t something about us or about our demeanour tell them we are not thugs,” he said.

Another census female official complained about the tablets they had been provided with. “They are either faulty or running on some faulty system. The system crashes after every half an hour. Then we have to reboot,” she said.

Technical glitches, people’s reluctance to share information make task difficult

“Even if we need to go upstairs in an apartment building, the system crashes. It crashes on the first floor itself. It is so frustrating,” she said, adding that she had to request the residents of buildings to kindly come downstairs to provide their data.

“And that is not easy because people are very sceptical anyway and then asking them to come downstairs to meet us is close to impossible,” she said. “And it is not that just my tablet might be malfunctioning. Other colleagues are also facing similar issues with the system,” she added. Yet another official shared that he was himself not sure what he was doing. “I can’t blame those who have trust issues. We are also being asked to collect data from shopkeepers in commercial areas and shopping malls. Then when they see the letter we are carrying they object immediately after going through its content.”

“They can clearly see that it is for carrying out census in residential areas. Then they want to know why we are there at their shops? Most of them send us away as they have already shared data when another PBS representative was at their home for the purpose,” he said.

“I was told that since their shops and businesses are registered and they pay taxes, there is no need to collect their data because it is already there with the Federal Bureau of Revenue,” he pointed out.

“Some people are also a bit taken aback at our not asking for, or not noting down their CNIC [Computerised National Identity Card] numbers. Instead we have been told to make a record of their phone numbers. They ask ‘what kind of a census is this?’ and quite frankly, in our hearts even we are asking ourselves the same question,” he concluded.

The officials shared their issues with Dawn on the condition of anonymity.

“We all work for the government. We don’t want unnecessary trouble for ourselves. Still, we felt it is important to tell what we think is strange or wrong here in conducting the census because the carrying out of a proper census is the need of all taxpayers and respectable citizens of this land,” said one of them, who had assisted in Dawn’s speaking to more of his colleagues about the issue.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2023