KARACHI: Rejecting the results of digital census, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the actual population of Sindh is 64.4 million but the federal government projected it at 57.6 million which shows that 6.8 million people have not been enumerated.

`This is not a small difference and the purpose of conducting a census within a period of five years (2017-2023) was to make accurate, foolproof and scientific enumeration but this has also proved to be defective and unacceptable,` he said while addressing a press conference at CM House on Thursday.

He was accompanying Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Shah and Adviser on Law Murtaza Wahab.

The CM said that last night a meeting was held in Islamabad to which he wasnot invited but the chief secretary attended it. `Without taking me into confidence, the meeting decided to close the population exercise [census] on May 15, except in the Punjab,` he lamented.

Mr Shah questioned if the census was meant to be conducted on the basis of growth rate, then there was no need to carry out such an expensive and `gruesome` exercise. `Under the law, the census is conducted after every 10 years,` he said, and added that the last census was conducted in 2017 but it was defective, therefore, on his hue and cry at the CCI [meeting] the federal government decided to conduct it again in 2023.

The CM said that now the census of 2023 was also proving to be defective and controversial, therefore, the federal government must rectify its shortcomings to the extent of the satisfaction of provincial governments. Otherwise, he said, the provincial government would have no option but to reject it.

The chief minister showed some slides taken from the screens of the tablets given to the enumerators. The slides read: `today is May 17, 2023 -the enumeration in the Block [taluka Jati,District Sujawal] can be started between March 1 and 11, 2023`.

He showed slides of different blocks, including Daro Satah area of Tando Allahyar, Muradi area of Shahdadkot, and Circle-9 of Umerkot where similar messages were written on the screen of the tablet on May 18, 2023.

The CM said that the data entered by enumerators of the blocks was not being accepted by the central data centres. He said that people in several blocks in Karachi were also not counted.

Sharing the data from the 2017 census, CM Shah said that Punjab had a population of 109,989,655 with 17,107,953 listed households showing the average size of a household as 6.43 members. He said that in 2023, the projected population of Punjab was calculated at 123,375,402 with a 6.24 average size of a household.

In the census of 2017, the population of Sindh was 47,854,510 with 8,626,204 listed households, he said, adding that the average size of a household was 5.55 per household. `In 2023, the projected population of the province is 57,665,774 with 10,256,995 listed households, he said. Mr Shah said that the average size of a household came to 5.62. In 2017, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa household size was recorded at 7.13.

`Now, in 2023, it has been projected at 6.92.

In 2017 the average size of a household in Balochistan was 6.97 and now in 2023, it has been projected at 6.26.

Sindh`s population showed 3.17pc annual growth, Punjab`s reduced, and Balochistan`s increased.

Murad Ali Shah said that the population of Sindh was 64.4 million while they were showing it at 57.66 million which showed a shortfall of 6.8 million. The CM said that all the blocks of Karachi have not been covered/ enumerated in the census.

May 9 violence Talking about violence and arson on May 9 in the aftermath of the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan, the chief minister said that it was unac-ceptable and would not be tolerated.

`We would arrest each and every person involved in the violence,` he categorically announced. The CM said that they torched the most important memorials of national pride, such as the Chaghai monument built by Shaheed Bhutto, a warplane that had set a record of shooting down five Indian warplanes, Jinnah House (now Corps Commander residence) owned by the Father of the Nation.

`This was not simple but pre-planned violence; and this insanity started from their top leadership,` he claimed.

In Karachi, Mr Shah said, they torched a pedestrian bridge, a Ranger`s check post, a police mobile, a Peoples Bus Service vehicle, two water bousers, motorbikes and trees and caused damage to various other properties. `As far as the Sindh govt is concerned we would not spare any culprit involved in the arson,` he said.

NFC Award.

Murad Ali Shah said that the lastNFC award was given by the PPP government in 2010 and now it was outstanding. He added that once the census was completed in its true letter and spirit, its impact would fall on the NFC Award too.

In reply to a question, Mr Shah said that illegalimmigrants should also be counted once the nationals are enumerated so that the overall population, national and illegal, could be ascertained.

He brushed aside the impression that it was MQM-P that had raised the issue of the defective census of 2017.

`It was me who not only raised voice through media talks and press statements but also contested in the CCI, he said.

Karachi mayor issue The chief minister said that Pakistan Peoples Party had emerged as the single largest party in Karachi and, therefore, it would have its mayor. `There will be our [PPP] mayor for the city. People know we have served them, and they haveacknowledged it through the ballot, he argued.

Mr Shah said that PPP had won the largest number of votes in the 1970 elections and afterthat,people ofthis city voted the party in the local government elections.

`If I start counting the record development of works, the entire time of this entire press conference would be consumed,` he said, and added that roads, parks, flyovers, underpasses, stormwater drains, hospitals and various other development schemes initiated and completed by his government spoke loud of his government`s.

The chief minister said that Jamaat-i-1slami had not won any seat in district central local government elections of 2016. `How they have won so many seats in the recent elections?` he wondered, and pointed out they had not emerged as the single largest party.

Answering another question, the CM said that the PPP government did not believe in victimisation or denying rights to others. `Waseem Akhtarwas in jail when he was brought out to contest the election for mayor on August 25, 2016,` he recalled, and said: `Had the PPP not brought him out of jail, he would not have been elected`. Mr. Shah offered PTI elected representatives [councilors], who are facing allegation of involved in the May 9 violence, to come out and surrender voluntarily so that justice could be done to them.

Water shortage Taking up the issue of water shortage, Murad Ali Shah said that Sindh was not receiving its due share [in water]. He lamented that when water had been abundantly available, this province was flooded, and now when a shortage had occurred, Sindh was being denied its share.

The CM urged the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) to release due share of Sindh so that Kharif crops could be cultivated on time and those that had been planted could be saved from turning pale.