CCI Approves 2017 Census Results, Decides To Hold New Census Immediately

Muhammad Irfan Published April 12, 2021 | 08:54 PM

The Council of Common Interest (CCI) on Monday approved the results of 2017 national population census with majority votes and decided to hold the new census by end of 2021

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Apr, 2021 ) :The Council of Common Interest (CCI) on Monday approved the results of 2017 national population census with majority votes and decided to hold the new census by end of 2021.

The meeting of the CCI was held here presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan and was attended by the Chief Ministers of all the provinces.

Later giving details of the meeting in a press conference here, Minster for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan voted in favor of the approval while the Sindh Chief Minister voted against the approval.

However, he said that keeping in view the reservations showed by some stakeholders including Sindh government over the results of the census, the CCI had decided to start the process of 7th national population census by October this year.

"What we had to do was that either to approve or to reject the results, and as the decision of rejection would mean a great loss to the provinces, the CCI has approved with majority vote and decided not to wait for 10 years to hold the next census," Asad Umar added.

He said the framework for new census would be prepared within six to eight weeks and then the approval for new census would be sought from the CCI. "About four months after the approval, the process of new census would start by end September or start of October this year." The minister informed that the census was a process that spans over a period of 18 months so it would be completed by start of 2023.

"The general election are expected to be held in October 2023 so the next general elections would be held on the basis of new census' results, he added.

Asad Umar said the cost of the new census was estimated at around Rs 23 billion that would be divided in two fiscal years-FY2022 and FY2023.