ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar has said that it is the commitment of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government to hold sixth Population Census as soon as possible.
In his address at the International Conference on Population Census organized by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Islamabad on Monday, he said that the government knew the importance of population census and it was equally cognizant of the fact that it must be fair, transparent and credible.
Dar said for achieving the objectives and ensuring security of enumerators the government would require help from the Pakistan Army.
As soon as the required number of army personnel were available, the census would be started as the PBS had already made all the arrangements to conduct the gigantic and challenging exercise.
The minister said it was the government of PML-N that conducted census in 1998 which was accepted and appreciated by all the stakeholders. That census was also held in a challenging situation and the army was engaged in the exercise for the first time.
He said the 1998 model would be followed for the sixth census and army would again be engaged to hold the exercise in a more credible and transparent manner.
He said the population census was important to know about the socio-economic conditions, ensure proper distribution of resources among provinces and help economic development, besides devising policies.
Talking about the country’s economic condition, the minister said the PML-N government had assumed power at a time when the economy was very weak. However due to its efforts, the economy was now moving on sustainable and inclusive growth path.
The country, he said, achieved 4.71 per cent growth in the financial year 2015-16, the highest in eight years while it envisaged to achieve 5.5 per cent growth in the ongoing fiscal year.
Per capita income also witnessed growth of 17 per cent in terms of dollar and 34 per cent in terms of rupee while inflation was at 3 per cent, the lowest in the country’s history, he added.
The minister said revenue collection had increased by 16 per cent, forex reserves risen to $23.08 billion from $6 billion and the stock exchange witnessed considerable performance during the last three years.
Later talking to media, Ishaq Dar said as many as 24 names were forwarded to the Parliamentary Committee by the government and opposition for appointment of members for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The committee had conveyed its decision to the Prime Minister and the announcement in that regard would be made soon, he added.
To a question, the minister said he did not have any undeclared assets. He had not made embezzlement of even a single penny during his four terms in public office, he added.
Earlier speaking on the occasion, PBS Chief Statistician Asif Bajwa informed the participants about the activities and census preparations of the Bureau. The PBS had made all the arrangements to conduct census. As and when the security measures were finalized, it would start the exercise.
UNFPA Representative Hassan Mohtashami expressed the hope that the conference would be helpful for conducting the census in a more effective and credible manner.
