Digital Census Process Running Smoothly Across Country: PBS

News Desk

Islamabad: The 7th Population and Housing Census is progressing without any issues all across the country and the “overall progress and speed of the census process is very encouraging and satisfactory,” reported Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) stated on Thursday. The census is being conducted digitally for the first time in the country’s history.

A self-enumeration option is made accessible as part of the process from February 20 to March 10, 2023, while field operations for house listing and enumeration started on March 1 and will last through April 4.

PBS said that conducting a census digitally improves transparency, data-driven processes, real-time progress monitoring through geotagging utilising Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, and wider acceptance of census results.

According to the report, buildings are listed between March 1 and March 10, 2023, during which time all habitations and commercial establishments are geotagged and their economic activities are categorised in accordance with international standards. It is stated that the self-enumeration site is warmly accepted by those who used it to conduct their own counts, and that adopting this approach is optional.

Currently, the final phase of the census, i.e., enumeration, is ongoing and will start on March 12, 2023, and continue until April 4, 2023. In this phase, data about household members and their demographic characteristics, various socio-economic indicators, as well as housing characteristics, are being collected.

The PBS technical team is analysing and assessing the data and trends on a day-to-day basis to ensure the quality of the data and progress in the 291 identified blocks all over Pakistan. Physical verification and digital monitoring are being used for quality assurance.

PBS has established 495 Census Support Centers (CSC) at the Census District level and 495 CSC at the tehsil level, where over 1,095 IT experts from NADRA and the PBS team are available 24/7 for technical assistance and facilitation of field staff.

At the CSC level, a control room has been set up to assist census field workers during field operations. For this reason, NADRA technical teams are available to address any IT-related concerns. Through the toll-free number 0800-57574, a call centre is available around-the-clock for facilitation, support, and ideas.

The reported further said that information posted on the PBS website and official social media should be believed and taken into account and claimed that some groups are disseminating incorrect and misleading information.