Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Thursday approved the conduct of the 7th Population and Housing Census and the establishment of the Census Monitoring Committee.
The approval was granted at the 49th CCI meeting, held in Islamabad with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair.
While welcoming the chief ministers, the premier stated that the frequency of CCI meetings could be increased as per the demands of the provinces.
PM Imran also congratulated CCI members on the establishment of CCI’s permanent secretariat, adding that it manifested a collaborative spirit between the federal and provincial governments.
He emphasised that the federal government is “fully committed to resolving national issues in consultation with all federating units and stakeholders”.
The CCI meeting approved the conduct of the 7th Population & Housing Census and approved the establishment of the “Census Monitoring Committee” which would oversee and monitor census activities to ensure expeditious, transparent, and credible census operations.
This committee would be chaired by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, all Provincial Chief Secretaries, Chairman NADRA, Chief Commissioner Islamabad and other senior officials.
As per recommendations of the Census Advisory Committee, the CCI decided to conduct the census using international best practices, using digital technology and a GIS monitoring system. It was apprised that the housing census would be conducted before the population census.
PM Imran highlighted that the incumbent government wanted to have credible census data that could be used for initiating policies and projects for the welfare of citizens.
The CCI also decided that additional water requirements for Karachi would be discussed by the committee formed to reconcile views of the provinces at the political and technical levels and issues related to water.
