The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) will develop a digital census solution for the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) that will assure the precision and accuracy of population data in the shortest time possible.
The digital census will be taken out across the country using an IT turnkey solution on android-based smart devices, thanks to the preparation of the digital census solution. In this respect, the Nadra and the PBS inked a deal on Monday at the PBS Headquarters in Islamabad. Federal Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal attended.
The Council of Common Interest (CCI) has advised using current technologies and digital tools to conduct the forthcoming census. According to suggestions, the PBS requested Nadra to offer a detailed technological plan for the country’s first-ever digital census in 2022.
Speaking to the media, Ahsan Iqbal praised Nadra’s involvement in Pakistan’s first comprehensive digital census. He believed that with the new digital method, the bureau will be able to submit census findings to the Election Body of Pakistan in a timely way, allowing the commission to determine new constituency delimitations. He stated that Nadra’s digital system would ensure the openness and accountability of enumerators and supervisors.
Tariq Malik, Chairman of Nadra, stated that an accurate census is vital to Pakistan’s democracy and economy. The decision to conduct Pakistan’s first-ever digital census indicated a consensus on a fair and impartial census. The Nadra was an obvious technological partner for such national projects requiring openness.
Malik explained that Nadra was a prominent system integrator and innovator in the worldwide IT business and that they had developed an exclusive comprehensive turnkey solution for carrying out the digital census.
He stated that the solution included the development and deployment of android-based house listings and enumeration application that was synchronized with the global positioning system (GPS) and geographical information system (GIS), data centre services, call centre services, the establishment of technical support centres at the Tehsil level, and the creation of an online web portal for the general public with other allied services.
According to the Nadra chairperson, the proposed exclusive turnkey solution would be implemented in 628 Tehsils and about 200,000 census blocks by mapping census activities using a global positioning system.