Technical panel questions controversial census data trends

• Committee members seek data on outlier numbers.
• "Population growth in Balochistan was over 8% to 9%."
• PBS official confirms start of verification and rectification exercise.

ISLAMABAD: Owing to the highly controversial and impossible results in the data trends, the high-powered technical committee on the seventh population and housing census on Friday rejected the proposal to undertake a post-enumeration sample survey for verifying 1% bloc across Pakistan.

In its sixth meeting, held to analyse the data trends of the first-ever digital census, the committee asked the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to share more data on outlier numbers, as they could not endorse the exercise in its existing shape.

"For instance, the population growth in Balochistan, especially in some areas, is showing impressive growth of over 8% to 9% whereby only born boys numbers increased. The sex and age ratio need to be verified. It is humanely and biologically not possible that the numbers of male members increased much more than women," the official sources said.

Meanwhile, PBS Chief Statistician Dr Naeem-uz-Zafar has written letters to the four provincial chief secretaries as well as the AJK, GB and chief commissioner Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) saying the census is a national task of profound importance with long-term ramifications due to its linkages with resource allocation and delimitation process.

"At present, census field enumeration is being carried out in certain areas and a verification and rectification exercise has been started in pursuance of the discussion/decisions made in the debriefing to the honourable prime minister held on 16th May, 2023 and 14th meeting of Census Monitoring Committee (CMC) held on 17th May, 2023.

“By virtue of the digital census, it is possible to detect irregularities in the census data collection, either due to under-enumeration or over-enumeration due to biases or lax behaviour. It is utmost important that data should be collected in an accurate and transparent manner,” the letter stated.

“You are, therefore, requested to direct all the DCs/ACs to ensure full coverage by dedicated efforts and vigilant monitoring of the whole process in the field to ensure that data is collected in a transparent and unbiased way.”

The aforementioned committee comprises Dr Zeba A Sathar, demographer and country director Population Council; Dr Sanam Wagma Khattak, Demographer University of Peshawar; Ayesha Sheraz, Director NIPS Islamabad; Dr Durr-e-Nayab, Joint Director PIDE; Dr Asim Bashir Khan, Development Economist IBA Karachi; Dr Syed Haider Ali Shah, Dean University of Loralai, Balochistan; Prof Dr Syed Muhammad Arif, Quetta; Ayazuddin, Member PBS; and Muhammad Sarwar Gondal, Member PBS Islamabad.