ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani said that as the army appears to be unavailable to give its services for census due to its involvement in Operation Zarb-e-Azb and at Line of Control, an alternate needs to be found in the next Council of Common Interest session.
Speaking in a Senate session, Senator Mohsin Aziz said that 18 years have passed since the last census, further adding that there is no constitutional requirement to have army for the census.
Senator Zahid Hamid informed the house that the preparation for the census was completed, however the issue of the availability of the army remains. He also reminded the house that it was the decision of Council of Common Interest to take services of the armed forces.
He said that 42,000 soldiers would be required to conduct the census, and the government is targeting March 2017 to carry out the census.
