Asad Umar says govt to spend Rs10bn on digital census

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development & Reforms, Asad Umar on Tuesday said that the federal government will spend Rs10 billion on the digital census, ARY News reported.

Talking to ARY News, Asad Umar stressing the importance of the census in the country underlined the need for the latest technology for the error-free process.

The 1971 Constitution of Pakistan states that census will be carried out after every 10 years and here we carry out census after 18 to 20 years even in this age of digitization, Asad Umar said.

The minister maintained that technology will be used for census with the collaboration of provinces as the centre and the federating units enjoy a relationship based on trust. As far as security is concerned, Pakistan Army will render their role to ensure a transparent and secure census.

Umar said with the funds of Rs10 billion hardware and software would be brought for the upcoming digital census.

Read more: CCI session approves to hold 7th Population Census

A session of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair approved holding the 7th population census in the country.

The 49th session of the CCI, attended by all four chief ministers of the provinces, also approved the constitution of a Census monitoring committee.

The Prime Minister felicitated the members for the establishment of the permanent secretariat of the Council of Common Interest. “A permanent secretariat demonstrates the governments’ spirit for mutual cooperation,” the PM said.