Nepal Policy Institute organizes policy dialogue on upcoming census

NL Today

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Kathmandu: Think tank Nepal Policy Institute (NPI) organized a policy dialogue on the upcoming national census of Nepal on October 31 virtually.

The NPI said in a statement it organized a debate on the quality and completeness of the census while everyone is paying attention to the census, which plays an important role in the formulation of national development policy.

NPI, which has more than 1,050 Nepali-origin experts and researchers from around the world, has been organizing continuous policy dialogues on issues of public concern for the past four years, providing suggestions and assistance to organizations including the National Planning Commission, reads the statement.

In this regard, NPI organized a discussion by inviting the leaders of the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, representatives of local government and experts on sustainable development among others.

During the discussion, NPI Chairman Khagendra Raj Dhakal said that the census was giving an opportunity to find out a situation before and after the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that no Nepali should be left out in the census as the development and policy-making of Nepal after the pandemic would move forward on this basis.

Dhakal stressed the need for more publicity about the importance of collecting data on Nepali workers abroad.

Sharu Joshi, NPI Executive Board Member, said that it was found through NPI’s research that 70 percent of Nepalis living abroad do not know what is happening in Nepal.

Deputy Director General of Central Bureau of Statistics Dr. Hemraj Regmi said that the census was the biggest statistical activity conducted by the state. He said that it was challenging for the office, which has 500 employees, to manage 50,000 manpower (enumerators) and train them to conduct the census within 15 days.