(Khalid Sibtain)
Islamabad: Mr Asad Umar, Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives inaugurated the National Census Coordination Centre (N3C) at PBS Head Quarter, Islamabad.
Dr. Naeem uz Zafar Chief Statistician, Mr. Ayazuddin, Member (C&S), Mr. Muhammad Sarwar Gondal Member (SS/RM), Syed Ejaz Ali Shah Wasti (Member NA) and Dr. Azizullah Khattak, (Member ES) along with senior officers and officials of PBS welcomed the Honorable Minister.
N3C is an important milestone achieved by PBS to monitor and control the activities of upcoming Digital 7th Population and Housing Census. It will act as a hub for centralized decision making with representation of all provinces/regions for coordination and monitoring activities of the Census 2022. The idea is conceived by the success story of NCOC. It will be headed by DCPC, through N3C, all Chief Secretaries, relevant provincial secretaries (Education, Local Government etc.), Board of Revenue, Secretary IPC, DG Military operation will be connected for prompt decision making and coordinated efforts for successful conduct of Census 2022. N3C will be connected with all Provincial Head Quarters along with 614 tehsil level Census Support Centres for progress reviews and centralized Evidence based Decision Making regarding ongoing field activities of Census-2022. Multiple Role Based Interactive Dashboards for progress review, trends analysis as well as GIS Monitoring of Field activities will be available online 24/7. It will be facilitated by IT Experts/Demographers for studying Trend analysis & Data Insights for informed Decision Making.
Chief Statistician, Dr Naeem uz Zafar, briefly presented the main features of 7th Digital Population and Housing Census, alongwith the achieved and upcoming targets related to Census process. He informed the participants that upcoming Census will be first ever digital Census of Pakistan by involving NTC, M/o IT & T, PTA, SUPARCO & NRTC. PBS has carefully planned the Census process by reviewing UN guidelines, World’s best practices, involving Demographers and Academicians and consulting stakeholders and provinces. Tablet based data collection, Geo tagging, real time monitoring, Extensive trainings through technological intervention and time reduction in releasing results will lead the process towards transparency and reliability. Electronic data collection, Geo tagging of structures, Involvement of Stakeholders and Consultation with provinces will improve the acceptability and reliability of Census Process and control room like N3C will make the whole process responsive by immediately pointing out and rectifying the problems related to Census Process. Online access to self-information & instant messaging system for proof of enUmaration, Establishment of Census Support Centres/ complaint centres at Tehsil level for 24/7 support, Data Quality coverage assurance through innovative Computer Assisted Telephonic Interview (CATI) approach and conduct of Post EnUmaration Survey as per international standards will be incorporated for wide acceptability of Census results.
Mr. Asad Umar congratulated Chief Statistician and PBS team on inauguration of N3C. He showed satisfaction over the progress of Census team on achieving the timelines regarding Planning of Upcoming Digital Census 2022. He further added that availability of correct information is important for Policy making, Planning and Development. Chief Statistician, PBS will ensure the availability of latest information about census during the whole exercise for transparency of the process. Update information should be available on Website of PBS. In the presence of Modern technology, delay in Census results will not be acceptable. Federal and Provincial departments involved in Census will remain connected through N3C and this consultation process will not only increase the confidence of all stakeholders in Census process but will also be helpful in solving the queries that will arise during activity. He added that role of Media is critical for provision of correct information and awareness of general public regarding this important and extensive exercise. Therefore, Media is requested to share correct and timely information and point out positive things to improve the process. The smooth census process will lead towards correct figures that will be ultimately used for development of countries. Now, its high time to win the confidence of Parliament.
The queries of Media and other participants were addressed by Mr. Asad Umar in Question Answer Session. The DP Centre team presented the Data dissemination KIOSK to the Minister. He also visited the GIS lab.
Activities for the upcoming First Ever Digital Housing and Population Census 2022, are at full swing. Pilot survey will be conducted in May – June 2022, the census exercise will be conducted in August 2022 and the post enUmaration survey is planned in November, 2022. Results will be declared in Dec 2022.
