Thanks God, the national census would be held next month if all goes well. They are being held after a delay of almost 7 years but, as they say, better late than never, even if they are held now, so much the better. Census needs to be held after every ten years. Last census was held as back as 1998. A lot of water has crossed Attock bridge since then. The general elections are due next year. The Election Commission would be able to update its electoral lists in case the scheduled census are completed in time. Moreover, the latest population figures, if made available to the Planning Commission, would enable it to formulate the next annual developmental plan for the country on sound basis.
Some of the nationalist element of Baluchistan has expressed its reservations on the presence of million of Afghan refugees in the country. They fear that if they wangled registration of their names as Pakistanis there is a danger of creation of imbalance in the ratio among the various nationalities living in the country which, in turn, can create many political complications in future. The government must arrange pre-census training in every district for the government functionaries who are going to conduct census operation in which they need to be told about the niceties of various aspects of census. Has the government decided about the column in which names of Afghan refugees are going to be registered? The common man must know what is the latest decision about the status of Afghan refugees in the country? Is it not necessary that it is discussed threadbare in Parliament?
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