Sixth census deferred to October due to pandemic

The sixth population and housing census of the country has been deferred for 10 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The nationwide listing, which will be conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), will instead be held between October 25 and October 31.

Earlier, the government fixed January 2-8 to conduct the census.

Planning Minister MA Mannan yesterday said they have already started activities to that end.

"The census is one of our most important tasks," he said at the inauguration of a training programme at the BBS in the capital.

Statistics generated from the census is required in almost all government activities, including preparations of different development projects, he said.

He called upon everyone involved in the census-listing activities to conduct it correctly and with utmost sincerity.

A Geographic Information System will be used in the census as a new feature, says a handout provided by the BBS to the media.

Besides, a "combined census management system" will be introduced while data will be collected using a multi-modal system, the handout says.

At yesterday's training programme, some 144 master trainers took part, who will later provide training to field-level individuals to collect data for the census through door-to-door activities.

The BBS conducts the census every 10 years.

In independent Bangladesh, the first population census was conducted in 1974. Later, population and housing censuses were held in 1981, 1991, 2001, and 2011.

According to the 2011 census, the country's population was 15.25 crore.

However, the government estimates that the population is over 16 crore at present.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, in October 2019, approved a Tk 1,761 crore project for the sixth population census and house listing, said a BSS report.