ISLAMABAD: (Parliament Times) Pakistan will begin its census on March 15, 2017.
The census will be conducted in the entire country in two phases, it was decided on Friday as the CCI met for a meeting presided by the Prime Minister.
Prior to the session, all four provincial chief ministers met the Prime Minister.
It was decided that all four provinces will collaborate for the census and a committee will be formed to monitor its timely start. The committee will comprise of federal secretary of statistic department and provincial chief secretaries.
The council decided that a national security fund may be established to deal with terrorism. It was decided that a proposal will be sent to the National Finance Commission.
The decision came after the Supreme Court asked the government to submit a written reply explaining the delay in holding a census.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali heard a suo motu case last month over delay in population census in the country. The chief justice observed that democratic system highly depended upon population census.
“There is a huge difference between 1998 and today’s population,” he had observed. “Policies are being made without having any record of the exact number of people in the country.”
The last census in Pakistan was held in 1998.
Nation stands with families of APS martyrs: PM
Earlier during the meeting, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his condolence to families of the Army Public School martyrs.
“Today reminds us of the horrific APS incident,†he said, adding that the entire nation stands with the bereaved families in their times of sorrow.
He said that top leadership of the country decided to take action against terrorism and extremism in the country. “We have no mercy in our hearts for these ruthless murderers who killed our innocent children,†he said.
He said that the country has made immense sacrifices and the world is witness to how Pakistan has managed to tackle terrorism.