Decision on publication of 2017 census results in CCI meeting tomorrow

• CCI’s decision on population census tomorrow (Wednesday).
• The 44th CCI meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Key federal ministers and four chief ministers will also attend.
• Pakistan's last census was held four years ago in 2017.

ISLAMABAD: The Council of Common Interests (CCI) is scheduled to hold its 44th meeting on Wednesday (tomorrow) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan for taking a decision on issuance of notification for population census results.

A decision on the issuance of a notification for Pakistan's population census results is on the agenda of the Council of Common Interests meeting tomorrow (Wednesday).

The 44th CCI meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Key federal ministers and four chief ministers will also attend.

Read more: MQM-P again demands a separate province for urban population of Sindh

Several important issues are on the agenda, including matters relating to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in the post 18th Amendment scenario, issues related to fiscal federalism, including the much-awaited handing over of vertical programmes of health and social welfare to the provinces in the aftermath of the 18th Amendment and transferring major resources to the federating units under the seventh NFC Award.

The issuance of a notification for the population census results held in 2017 is one of the more crucial items on the agenda. Earlier, a ministerial committee was formed comprising the ministers for planning, IPC and maritime affairs, all provincial representatives, attorney-general and planning secretary.

This committee will table its recommendations before the CCI. Pakistan's last census was held four years ago in 2017 and holding sample surveys might provide no solution acceptable to all stakeholders.

After the census in 2017 when the PML-N was ruling the country, it was once decided to hold a sample survey in 3% to 5% areas in all four provinces but it did not materialise. 

Read more: Census 2017: 10 questions on Pakistan's population

MQM-Pakistan, meanwhile, is demanding to scrap the census in urban areas of Sindh, especially in Karachi and Hyderabad, so there will be no easy way forward for the government.

Now the statistics division has been handed over to the planning ministry and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) is averse to any decision on holding sample surveys after a four-year period because many realities in the same blocks might have changed and it would not be in line with international standards to conduct a survey after a long pause for verification purposes.