CCI postpones population census

The census was originally planned for March 2016. The decision was taken due to security concerns as the required number of the army troops are not available currently as the military has been busy in anti-terrorism operations.

The CCI meeting, which was attended by the chief ministers of four provinces, decided that the new dates for the population and house census will be fixed after consultation with the all stakeholders.

The CCI, a constitutional forum to reconcile inter-provincial matters and contentious issues among the federating units and the centre, held after nearly one year.

The CCI in its last meeting had decided that the census would be held in March this year. The government is facing difficulties in kick-starting the 18-day country-wide exercise, which has been pending since 2008.

The last census was held in 1998 and the next was due in 2008 as under the constitution the exercise should be conducted once in every 10 years.