KARACHI: Former finance minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Miftah Ismail on Tuesday rejected the country’s first-ever digital census and expressed reservations about the recent digital census and demanded to repeat the count of country’s population again.
Miftah Ismail made the statement while addressing a conference organised by Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) in Karachi to develop consensus against the recent digital census.
The former finance minister said that the statistics of the digital census are inaccurate and the counting of the country’s population should be conducted across Pakistan again.
He raised questions about the findings of 3% growth in the population. He added that 9 million children are born across the country every year. He also criticised the difference in population growth rate in Karachi and the other parts of the country.
“Tablet devices have already been purchased by the government. Another census would cost from Rs17 to Rs18 billion to the national exchequer. If the government makes expenses, it would not be an issue as it is being spent for a cause in the country.”
Ismail said that the economic and political situation will not improve until the nexus of the country’s elites is broken.
