5th population census begins
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
FE Report
The fifth population and household census began from midnight Monday. The total number of people living at present in the country will be enumerated along with collection of concrete data on their age, sex, ethnicity, religion and social and economic status. At zero hour, the counting of the population began at Bangabhaban recording the relevant data about President Zillur Rahman. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will provide her information at her residence at 9:30am today (Tuesday). Disclosing the details of the census programme at a press conference Monday, Planning Minister AK Khandaker said during the first six hours until 6am today (Tuesday), data on the country's total floating population will be collected by the government's statistics bureau staff upon visiting bus and rail stations, footpaths and launch terminals throughout the country. "We will count all the people living inside the country and 'enclaves' during the five-day-long census period," he said adding that the Home and Foreign Ministries have already informed India about the population census and got assurance of cooperation. The minister said the latest census would try to collect data on all men and women, their age, education, martial status, religion, profession and ethnicity along with the total number of households, their types, availability and sources of water, sanitation and electricity which will be used in development plans and their implementation. "No one will be excluded from the census. No one will be counted more than once," said the Planning Minister informing that digital maps will be used to identify the census area to avoid repetition and dropping. According to officials concerned, over 70,000 maps, prepared through geographical information system (GIS) covering each Mouza in both rural and urban areas would be used during the 5-day census to be completed on March 19. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) will conduct the census dividing the country into 130 enumerating districts, where 310,000 enumerators will visit people door to door. Some 57,000 supervisors will also be working under the supervision of a district census coordinator in every district. For the first time, digital enumeration maps and a unique geo-coding will be used in the fifth population census. A budget of US$ 39.77 million has been mobilised by the government and donors for the census. The census, which has been carried out every 10 years since 1872, will be conducted in three phases - first for main census to collect basis information, the second for quality check and the third for sample census data. Bangladesh population was set at 124 million in 2001, the last time the country conducted a census, with males outnumbering females by 51 to 49 per cent. The new census is also likely to put to end the lingering dispute over the present population size of the country - as the government's figure of 144.2 million in the year ending 2009 massively differed from the United Nations figure of 162 million. "The population census plays an important role in the national life," the Planning Minister said calling upon all to provide all-out cooperation to make the counting a success. During the press conference, BBS secretary Riti Ibrahim and its Director General Shahjahan Ali Mollah also spoke.
The fifth population and household census began from midnight Monday. The total number of people living at present in the country will be enumerated along with collection of concrete data on their age, sex, ethnicity, religion and social and economic status. At zero hour, the counting of the population began at Bangabhaban recording the relevant data about President Zillur Rahman. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will provide her information at her residence at 9:30am today (Tuesday). Disclosing the details of the census programme at a press conference Monday, Planning Minister AK Khandaker said during the first six hours until 6am today (Tuesday), data on the country's total floating population will be collected by the government's statistics bureau staff upon visiting bus and rail stations, footpaths and launch terminals throughout the country. "We will count all the people living inside the country and 'enclaves' during the five-day-long census period," he said adding that the Home and Foreign Ministries have already informed India about the population census and got assurance of cooperation. The minister said the latest census would try to collect data on all men and women, their age, education, martial status, religion, profession and ethnicity along with the total number of households, their types, availability and sources of water, sanitation and electricity which will be used in development plans and their implementation. "No one will be excluded from the census. No one will be counted more than once," said the Planning Minister informing that digital maps will be used to identify the census area to avoid repetition and dropping. According to officials concerned, over 70,000 maps, prepared through geographical information system (GIS) covering each Mouza in both rural and urban areas would be used during the 5-day census to be completed on March 19. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) will conduct the census dividing the country into 130 enumerating districts, where 310,000 enumerators will visit people door to door. Some 57,000 supervisors will also be working under the supervision of a district census coordinator in every district. For the first time, digital enumeration maps and a unique geo-coding will be used in the fifth population census. A budget of US$ 39.77 million has been mobilised by the government and donors for the census. The census, which has been carried out every 10 years since 1872, will be conducted in three phases - first for main census to collect basis information, the second for quality check and the third for sample census data. Bangladesh population was set at 124 million in 2001, the last time the country conducted a census, with males outnumbering females by 51 to 49 per cent. The new census is also likely to put to end the lingering dispute over the present population size of the country - as the government's figure of 144.2 million in the year ending 2009 massively differed from the United Nations figure of 162 million. "The population census plays an important role in the national life," the Planning Minister said calling upon all to provide all-out cooperation to make the counting a success. During the press conference, BBS secretary Riti Ibrahim and its Director General Shahjahan Ali Mollah also spoke.