What the census will not be documenting
During the national census, 13 questions pertaining to demographic details per household will be asked as specified in Form 2. Enumerators going door-to-door will collect data such as the name of the head of the family, the relationship of other persons living in the household to the head of the family, gender, age, marital status, religion, mother tongue, nationality, literacy, occupation during the last 12 months, CNIC (for those above the age of 18), nature of residence (owned, rented, without rent) etc. Recently, debate in Sindh, ensued over the exclusion of Gujrati - it is one of the languages not listed in this form. Moreover,
the listing of only six religions, omitting some, was taken up by members of the Sindh government.
Form 2A (shown above) with additional questions on fertility, disability, etc will not be used during the upcoming national census next month.
Form 2A, with an additional twenty questions, will not be used during the census. Therefore, additional and detailed information such as the district of birth for all individuals, the duration of residence at present, previous district of residence (whether urban or rural), details pertaining to education, fertility (for women between 15 to 49 years, data collected on total live births), migration, disabilities, etc will not be collected. Information collected for this questionnaire point to significant socio-economic statistics that are imperative for meaningful policymaking. This omission, therefore, implies the exercise is being conducted in a hurried manner without giving thought to the purpose of a national census and its impact on the broader health of a nation. — Razeshta Sethna