M. Int.-16 500 CENSUS Of IPAKJSTAN, 1951 VOLUME 4 NORTH· WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE REPORT & TABLES BY SHEIKH ABDUL HAMID, Provincial Superintendent of Census, N.-W.F.P. Published by the Manager of Publications, Government of Pakistan, Karachi Printed by the Manager, Din Muhammad; Press, Karachi. Price Rs. 10/- FIRST CENSUS OF PAKISTAN, 19SI-CENSUS PUBLICATIONS 8ulletlns No. I-Provincial Tables of Population. No.2-Population according to Religion. No.3-Urban and Rural Population and Area. No.4-Population according to Economic Categories. Vi/lage Lists The Village list shows the name of every Village in Pakistan in its place in the administratives organisation of Tehsils, Halquas, Talukas, Tapas, Sub-division's Thanas etc. The names are given in English and in the appropriate vernacular script, and against each is shown the area, population as enumerated in the Census, the number of houses, and local details such as the existence of Railway Stations, Post Offices, Schools, Hospitals etc. The Village list is issued in separate booklets for each District or group of Districts. Census Reports Printed Veil. 2-Baluchistan'and States Union Report and Tables, Vol. 3-East Bengal and Report Tables. Vol. 4-N.-W.F,P. and' Frontier Regions Report and Tables. Census Reports (in course of preparation) Vol. I-General Report and Tables for Pakistan, showing Provincial Totals. Vol. 5-Punjab and Bahawalpur State Report Tables. Vol. 6-Sind and Khairpur State Report and Tables. Vol. 7-West Pakistan Tables of Economic Characteristics. Vol. 8-East Pakistan Tables of Economic Characteristics. PREFACE This Census report for the North-West Frontier Province and the Frontier Regions is one of the series of volumes in which the results of the 1951 Census of Pakistan are re· corded. Underlying all the work and effort by which these figures have been produced, as the overwhelming need for the rapid supply of information regarding the new nation. But this sense of urgency has had to contend with the great difficulty of organizing the enumeration and the subsequent abstraction of the results at a time when the administra­ tive structure of the Government was itself in the formative stages. Most strenuous efforts by devoted officers, however. met the demand for data despite the slender resources, and the more essential figures ~ere made available with remarkable speed by the issue of four Interim Bulletins, the first of which gave the provisional results of the Census within six weeks of the Enumeration. In addition, a District Village List was published giving the name, population and many local details of every village in the settled districts and a similar pamphlet has been published for each of the , enumerated parts of the Frontier RegioQs giving an analysis of the main tribes by villages. This report now gathers together all the final details of the 1951 Census in the North West Frontier Province and Frontier Regions. It is arranged in three parts; Part I, be­ sides giving a brief description of the historical and geographical background of the pro­ vince, explains the definitions and methods used in the collection and the compilation of the census data, provides certain comparisons with past figures, and gives some of the local details required in order to understand the differences between the figures for various parts of the province. A chapter in this part of the volume explains the census statistics of the 'Frontier Regions, a slightly larger areas of which were enumerated in this Census than previously. Part II contains the regular series of statistical tables in which the detailed tesults of the Census of the Settled Districts are presented and Part III contains the special tables for the Frontier Regions, including the estimates made of the population of the areas which were not covered by enumeration. It is strongly urged that before using or drawing conclusions from the data in Parts II and III, the definitions and explanations in Part I should be taken into account. It is proposed to issue a further volume, which will be No.7 in the series, in which certain of the economic tables for all provinces of West Pakistan will be presented in greater geographical and qualitative detail. _ The change in the structure of the urban population in the settled districts which had arisen from the departure of most of the Hindus and Sikhs created many administrative problems for which information was urgently required. Moreover, the 1941 Census had not been fully tabulated owing to the War. This lack of statistical data made it imperative not to postpone the census beyond its normal date in February 1951 despite the undesira­ bility of organizing such an operation without long preparation. The Provincial Super· intendent of Census feels nevertheless that the figures in the 1951 Census are reasonably, a~urate as regards the total population of the settled districts and that the enumeration and estimation gives us better figures for the Frontier Regions than were previously avail· able. Accuracy in the Cen~u~ i~ however a relative matter and the same standard 9f accuracy cannot obviously apply to all the detailed statistics. One must allow for doubts. and uncertainties in the minds of the public and this is particularly true in the case of illite..' rate persons in regard to age and the exact des.cription of occupations, etc. The sorting and tabulation work which was largely done by the traditional hand methods was most carefully checked, but here again the possil:iIity of mis-classification cannot be entirely ruled out. These considerations have led to a departure from previous policy in the matter of presenting the Age data. In 193 I the age figures suffered from the usual troubles but the 5-year Age-groups were adjusted arithmetically in order to smooth out the worst inequalities. In 1931 this was considered undesirable: The enumerators them.selves had recorded most of the ages to the nearest 5 years, but an analysis disclosed that even then there was obvious heaping in certain groups. Had the data been presented in this report in fun detail, there would have been very grave danger of figures being u~ed hurriedly to draw conclusions of administrative importance without giving due consideration to their relative reliability. The age figures are therefore presented only in broad groups which appear to be reasonably reliable. The full tabulation in 5-year groups has been preserved and copies can be made available to students and statisticians on application to the Govern­ ment of Pakistan, but should only be used under expert advice and with caution. The scope of the 1951 Census of Pakistan covered more or less the same ground as previous Censuses of India except that the detailed analysis by Castes and Race ceased to be necessary and tribes were not recorded except in special areas. The enquiries regard­ ing language, literacy, education and Economic activities were carried into greater detail. A translation of the enumerators questionnaire and introduction-sheet is inserted in the back-cover of this volume together with a copy of the Enumeration Slip on which the I}nswers were recorded. Some of the enquiries included in the questionnaire have proved unsuccessful and in particular the data on Unemployment and Fertility. But these in­ lJovations were worth making and will probably result, provided the questions are re­ designed in the light of our present experience, in the production of more reliable data on these subjects at the next Census. In this Census no question was asked regarding physi­ calor mental handicaps as experience had shown the practical impossibility of applying definitions regarding the degree of informity. An enquiry into cattle resources and land utilization was originally suggested for inclusion in the population Census. There is a great deal to be said for collecting such information while the enumerators are recording the other data of the rural population, but in view of the short time for organization and the complex nature of such an enquiry, which would necessitate far more elaborate instruc­ tion of enumerators, nothing of this kind could be done in 1951. An enquiry into Cottage Industries was, however, included as a part of the house-listing survey. It was not com­ pleted fully everywhere but the results may be useful as far as they go. The work of abstracting the statistical data from the mass of slips has been a long and exacting undertaking which was complicated by th,e decision on grounds of economy for part of the work to be done in Rawalpindi, and on grounds of accuracy for the occupa­ tional data of the Non-Agricultural Labour Force to be sorted by punched card machi­ nery in Karachi. The use of this machinery enabled the classifications to be checked in detail and provided cross-tabulations wh:ch would have been quite impossible by hand. This first attempt to modernize the abstraction stage of the Census is an essential innova­ tion and should lead to far better results in the future. There was of course a feeling that methods of great precision were being used to deal with information which itself was often extremely indefinite, but the mlchine system, with its preliminary coding does tend to eliminate even these errors and certainly prevents their mUltiplication. Part [ of the re­ port has been written by Sheikh Abdul Hamid, I have given a certain amount of editorial ( ii ) guidance but the thought is his and is a valuable appreciation of lhe contents and meaning of the data from the point of view of the officer who obtained the figures and can view them in the light of an intimate knowledge of the country and its people.