THIS is apropos of your editorial ‘Census criticism’ (April 18). The population and housing census is important because it assesses human resources, provides basic data on social and economic variables about each person and housing unit.
The data is used for the development of social sector by the planning department of all provinces.
Unfortunately, housing census is politicised by vested interests. Sindh housing census has many drawbacks because of the facts that more than 100,000 flood-affected people are still in camps and due to drought many people from Tharparkar are migrating to cities.
The provincial census commissioner has admitted that housing census is being politicised. It is an admitted fact that the census commission is not an autonomous body and is being managed by bureaucrats from top to bottom. Before starting housing census, no awareness was created through literature and the media.
On March 30 the chief census commissioner rushed to Karachi and had a short meeting with the chief secretary and MPAs of Sindh. He informed them that housing census will start on April 5. No provincial census commissioner was appointed at that time.
Rural and urban activists have reservations about the housing census. Most of them are interested for the allocation of provincial assembly and National Assembly seats, while there is no interest in the future planning of facilities for a common man.
There is no transparent and foolproof system evolved by the census commission. Census is totally under the control of bureaucracy and they can easily manipulate the figures which are always kept secrets.
In 1973, the then Home Secretary of Sindh Mohammad Khan Junejo changed the census figures of Karachi from 6 million to 3 million. I held a press conference the next day and exposed the wrongdoing and was ultimately arrested and later released.
Later the home secretary was also arrested and during his trial he submitted a confessional statement in which he admitted that he changed the figures. A Karachi-based reporter obtained a copy of a confessional statement in which the home secretary stated that he changed the figures under the order of senior officials so that the provincial and National Assembly seats of Karachi may be decreased.
One will wonder that how the bureaucracy plays an intriguing role. The populations of most of the towns in interior Sindh have increased from 115 per cent to 276 per cent, while in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas the increase is merely from 42 per cent to 83 per cent.
On Aug 10, 1991, I briefed Karachi journalists about the census in Karachi. The next day they invited the attention of Gen Ziaul Haq who ordered a test census.
But the bureaucracy submitted a report that everything was all right and the matter was closed. Again in 1991, I held press conferences at Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore and Islamabad and exposed the fake census. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan took serious notice and ordered a transparent census in Sindh.
I have always suggested that the census on the pattern of Turkey be adopted in Pakistan, especially in Sindh, so that the social and fundamental rights of every citizen from Karachi to Kashmore may be protected.
In case the census of rural or urban population of Sindh is decreased, ultimately the Sindh government will suffer. The census of Sindh will always face criticism unless it is transparent and foolproof.
AZAD BIN HAIDERChief organizer,Sindh Census CouncilKarachi
Key to developmentFOR formulating a policy, it is necessary to have an authentic data about inhabitants of a country. Census is a document aiming to identify the real problems being faced by citizens through the collection of concerned data.
It is usually conducted through ‘door to door’ visits across the country. It helps to obtain all types of quantitative data like education, gender, religion, sect, economy, employment, marital status, age groups, number of able and disabled persons and so forth.
Unfortunately, in Pakistan no satisfactory attention has been given to this task. Since independence, only five population and housing censuses have been conducted in 1951, 1961, 1972, 1981 and 1988.
After that, all governments have slept over the matter. And now the present government has taken the initiative regarding conducting a fresh population and housing survey.
One must appreciate this step by the government and encourage it in this regard.
At present different stakeholders across the country, particularly in Sindh, express their concern about the fairness and accuracy of the census exercise. This is so because some parts of Karachi and Hyderabad, along with other areas of Sindh, are inaccessible and unapproachable to enumerators.
The obtained data derives from all policies, including “political, administrative, budgetary, economic planning, education and manpower planning, population policy, public health, demographic studies, market studies and miscellaneous”.
Therefore, the mere commencement of census work is not enough, it is also necessary to ensure an efficient procedure. The accuracy of housing census will help to bring accuracy in the forthcoming population census that would commence during August/September 2011.
Executing a true and reliable census is not solely the responsibility of the government, as each citizen has also to play his/her role to ensure an error-free survey that can be trusted and utilised for formulating future policies.
INAYAT ALI GOPANGIslamabad