Fawad Chaudhry, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, has stated that the next population census will be conducted using modern technologies.
Following a cabinet meeting which was presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan, the minister said the government had received assurances from the relevant authorities that the population census will be completed within the next two years.
The meeting determined that the next census should be performed on a de jure basis, according to the minister, and admitted that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had differing opinions on whether the census should be conducted on a de jure or de-facto basis.
The minister added that the de-facto process occurs when people are counted by imposing curfew at the same time, and the de jure procedure occurs when people have lived for more than six months and will stay for another six months.
He stated that the latest technology, including tablets, would be employed in the census, and assistance from the NADRA and other organizations would also be sought. He stated that the election commission would delimit new constituencies in the final procedure.
Electronic Voting
The cabinet was also briefed on the electronic voting system as a regular agenda item and was informed that the opposition refused to engage in constructive discourse on election changes.
Pandora Papers
Fawad Chaudhry said that all the people who have been named in the Pandora Papers will be divided into the following categories:
- Those who have made their offshore corporations public
- Those who did not declare their offshore corporations acting as tax evaders.
- People who have offshore corporations and have been involved in money laundering, which is within the jurisdiction of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The Prime Minister’s Office would categorize them, and all institutions, including the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the FIA, and others, would take appropriate action against them.
The minister also complained that the media was continuously displaying the names of Shaukat Tarin and Khusru Bakhtiar, but the media was not discussing whether some media owners’ enterprises were lawful or illegal.
PMC (Pakistan Medical Commission)
During the cabinet meeting, Dr. Faisal Sultan, special assistant to the prime minister on health, briefed the meeting on the issue of Pakistan medical and dentistry college admission tests.
Fawad Chaudhry added that the government would not take any chances with the national licensing examination (NLE) and MDCAT examinations and that doctors’ standards should be high. Up to 200,000 students have registered for the tests, with just 20,000 seats available, demonstrating how fierce the competition is.
NEPRA (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority)
According to Chaudhary, the Ministry of Energy has made a request to the NEPRA asking for per unit reduction of Rs 7 in electricity pricing for consumers who will be using electricity instead of gas during the approaching winter due to a gas shortage.
He also stated that a three-member committee has been formed to investigate the prices at which the former government awarded power and road contracts and present a report to the cabinet.
