Punjab & Bahawalpur State, Vol-5, Pakistan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
M-Int-21 -00"--- CENSUS OF PAKISTAN, 1951 VOLUME 5 PUNJAB & BAHAWALPUR STATE REPORT & TABLES BY M. H. MAHMOOD Provincial Superintendent of Census Punjab Price: Rs. 8/12/- FIRST CENSUS OF PAKISTAN, 19S1-CENSUS PUBLICATIONS Bulletins No. I-Provisional Tables of Population. No.2-Population according to Religion. No.3-Urban and Rural Population and Area. No.4-Population according to Economic Categories. Vii/age Lists The Village list shows the name of every Village in Pakistan in its place in the ad ministrative organisations of Tehsils, Talukas, Halquas, 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 Report Printed. '. Vol. 2-Baluchistan Report & Tables. Vol. 3-East Bengal Report and Tables. Vol.' 4'-'-N:-W.F.P. and Frontier Regions Report and Tables. Vol. 5-Punjab and Bahawalpur State Report and Tables. Vol. 6-Sind and Khairpur State Report and Tables. Vol. 8 East Pakistan Tables of Economic Characteristics. Census Report in course of Preparation. Vol. I-General Report and Tables for Pakistan, showing Provincial Totals. Vol. 7-West Pakistan Tables of Economic Characteristics, PREFACE This Census report for the Province of the Punjab and Bahawalpur State is one of the series of volumes in which the results of the 1951 Census of Pakistan are recorded. Underlying all the work and effort by which these figures have been produced, has been the over-whelming 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 administrative structure of Government was itself in the formative stages. Most strenuous efforts devoted by officers, however met the demand for data despite the slender resources, and the more essential figures were made available with remarkable speed by the issue of four Interim Bulletins. the first .')f which gave the provincial results of the Census within six weeks of the Enumera tion. In addition, a District Village list has been published giving the name, popu lation and many local details of every village. This report now gathers together all the final details of the 1951 Census of the Provinces of Punjab and the State of Bahawalpur. It is arranged in two parts. ?art besides giving a brief description of the historical and geographical background of the Province, explains .the definitions and methods used in the collection and com pilation 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. Part II contains the regular series of statistical tables in. which the detailed results of the Census are presented. It is strongly urged that before using or drawing conclusions from the data in Part II, 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-lack of statistical detail regarding Pakistan and especially for the newly partitioned Province of the Punjab made it imperative to adhere to the traditional Census data in February 1951 despite the undesirability of organizing such an operation without long preparation. All existing information had been rendered obsolete by the two~way flow of migration reSUlting from Partition. In addition, the tig'ures for 1941 Census naturally did not apply to the new areas in the divided distf.~~s. Moreover, they had not been tabulated in full owing to the war, and thei{ accuracy had been prejudiced by the efforts of the different communities to inflate their figures for pOlitical purposes. The figures for 1931 Census were more accurate but were badly out of date. These considerations were not only reasons (i) (ii) PREFACE for a speedy Cens us but should be borne in mind when making comparisons of 1951 data with previous figures and in particular with such 1941 figures as are available. which should be used with due caution. Nevertheless despite the hurried organisation of the enume.ation, the Provincial Superintendent of Census feels tbat the figures for the 1951 Census are reasonably accurate as regards the tobl population of the various areas, and this opinion is fortified by the fact that the preliminary House-listing enquiry conducted three or four months before the Census itself, gave figures very close indeed to tbose which were attained by the final count, In fact the enumeration itself was rather more complete, but the difference is small. Accuracy in a Census, however, is a relative matter and the same standard of 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 illiterate persons in regard to age and the exact description of occupations. The sorting and tabulation work which was largely done by the traditional hand methods was most carefuliy checked, but here again the possibility of misclassification cannot be en tirely ruled out. These con siderations have led to a departure from previous policy in the matter of presenting the Age data. In 1931 the age figures suffered from the usual trouble but the S-years Age-groups were adjusted arithmetically in order to smooth out the worst inequali ties. In 1951 this was considered undesirable. The enumerators themselves 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 full detail, there would have been very grave danger of figures being used 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 appe;;rr 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 Government 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 tha t the detailed analysis by Caste and Race ceased to be necessary and tribes were not recorded except in spedal areas. The enquiries regarding language, literacy, education and Economic activities were carried into greater detail. A translation of the enumerators questionnaire and instruction sheet is inserted in the back-cover of this volume together w!th a copy of the Enume ration sUp on which the answers were recorded. Some of the enquiries included in the questionnaire have proved unsuccessful and in particular the data ~~I .Un employment and Fertility. But these innovations were worth makinr~ an:.t wilt probably result, provided the questions and procedures are re-designed in the:'iight of our present experience, in the production of more reliable data on these subjects of the next Census. In this Census no question was asked regarding. physical or mental handicaps as experience had shown the practical impossibility of supplying definitions regarding the degree of infirmity.- An enquiry into cattle resources and PREFACE (iii) 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 for more elaborate instruction of enumerators, nothing of this kind could be done in 1951. An enquiry into Cottage Industries was, however, included as a part of the home-listing survey. It was not completed fully everywhere but the results may be useful as for as they go. The work of abstracting the statistical data from the millions of slips has been a tremendous undertaking which strained our resources in all directions. Traditional hand-sorting methods were largely used and the original enumeration slips were found quite suitable for this purpose. The recruitment and training of a large temporary staff of sufficient education presented considerable problems. Owing to the departure of many Hindu clerks good clerical workers were at a premium and very few persons of suitable ability were willing to take up this arduous temporary work. Standards of skill and accuracy were only achieved by patience and careful supervision. I fell the greatest credit is due to the officers and super visors who dealt with the work of sorting, compilation and tabulation but it is of course impossible in the circumstances to claim complete accuracy. Power-Samas punched-card machinery was used for sorting the data of non-Agricultural workers and the Cottage Industry returns. This work was completely strange to all hands and it would undoubtedly have been simpler to allow hand-sorting methods to persist even in this complicated sphere. But I am sure the results would have been co"mpletely unreliable. The use of punched card machinery enabled the classifications to bi.! checked in detail and provided cwss-tabulations which would have been quite impossible by hand.