HYDERABDA: Pakistan Peoples Party’s Senator Taj Hyder has held flawed counting methodology and moth-eaten maps responsible for undercounting of population in censuses.

Mr Haider, who is also a member of PPP’s core committee and in-charge of PPP’s central election cell, said in a statement issued on Monday that the undercounting was a serious issue, which could not be corrected if the present counting methodology and use of old maps was not stopped.

He said that Sindh’s population was projected to over 64 million using figures of MICS (multiple indicators cluster survey) of Unicef, instead of 49m as projected after 92pc count in current census. This could be verified by Nadra figures although the authority had yet to issue NICs to around 4pc of families, he said.

He said that Rs35bn spent on the current census had gone down the drain. “The days of playing mischief with figures are over,” he said and added that “we have to jointly find reliable alternatives”.

Senator Taj Haider holds flawed methodology responsible for undercounting

He termed Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan’s allegations that PPP was conniving with federal government to ‘manipulate’ Karachi’s population “highly unfair”.

He said that under directive of his leadership he had himself gone to offices of JI and MQM and presented his book Sindh ka Muqaddima, Census 2017 and supporting documents that dealt with the issue of undercounting of population in Sindh. Hafiz Naeem had himself received the book, he said.

He said that the book focused on Karachi being capital of Sindh and a chart of population in 2013 obtained from NADRA was printed. It was Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who resisted pressures to validate controversial undercount of Census 2017 and due to his efforts PTI government had to agree to holding a fresh census.

He said that unfortunately Hafiz Naeem failed to recognise that Sindh also existed beyond Sohrab Goth and after the party’s protest PTI government had to add a representative from Sindh to 12-member advisory board on fresh census.

He said that Pakistan Statistics Board, however, had already prepared its mischievous working paper laying down its counting methodology as “de jure” and not “de facto” thus repeating the conspiracy that made census 2017 controversial and PPP continued to resist the conspiracy.

He said that in a meeting at CM House on Aug 1, the chief minister convinced PBS that the “de facto” methodology of counting was correct one, questionnaire needed to be made simplified and tablets being purchased were a waste of time and money.

He said the CM had subsequently held meetings with federal minister of planning & development at which Sindh’s logical stand was reiterated. Recently, an all-party conference was hosted by PPP on census and four PPP Senators from Sindh submitted a resolution to Senate which had now been placed before standing committee on planning & development after a long delay.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2023