PM Nawaz decides to conduct population census next year
Population census was last held in Pakistan in 1998.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has decided to conduct population census in the coming year, Dunya News reported on Sunday.
The decision was taken to hold next elections according to the fresh census report.
PM Nawaz directed all concerned departments to make arrangements for the holding of population census in all provinces in 2014. The directives were ordered following a reply to the letter of Election Commission.
The ECP had requested the PM to ensure population census next year. It also stated that census should be carried out after 10 years according to the constitution. The lack of a census could lead to raising questions about the transparency of general elections.
The ECP suggested that a census be held before the 2018 general elections in Pakistan in order to help ascertain the actual count of the population and the formation of electoral constituencies.
Population census was last held in Pakistan in 1998. At that time, the total population was estimated to be 130 million.
Population census was the need of the hour for delimitation of electoral constituencies and division of resources.
