Finance Minister briefed on 2nd phase of Census
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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Thursday briefed Finance Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on second phase of Population and Housing Census, 2017.
Chief Statistician, PBS Asif Bajwa during a meeting, which was chaired by the minister, apprised the participants that second phase of the census which commenced on 25th April would cover 88 districts throughout the country and continue till May 24.
In the second phase twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi along with federally administered tribal areas (FATA) would also be covered.
The second phase, he said was progressing smoothly and in accordance with the schedule.
The Chief Statistician added that all filles in census documents in respect of 63 districts covered in the first phase of the census had been safely received at the PBS headquarters.
The meeting was further informed that the government had already released the total allocated budget i.e. Rs 18.5 billion for the census process.
The Finance Minister said he was pleased to note that a team of international observers had expressed satisfaction over the census operation that had now entered in its second phase, adding to the credibility and transparency of the drive.
He appreciated and thanked the Provincial Chief Secretaries, armed forces personnel and members of the law enforcement agencies for their cooperation and support in successful completion of the first phase of the census.
He also lauded the hard work undertaken by the PBS and the census staff for smooth conduct of all census-related activities.
He said that indeed response from people and their support for the census process was overwhelming and asked the PBS to keep up the good work with same dedication in the second phase as was demonstrated in the first one.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed, Secretary Statistics Division, Chief Statistician PBS and senior officials of the Finance Division. (APP)
