Some ministers of the Awami League-led government expressed confusion over the preliminary findings of the latest census, according to which the country's total population is only 14.23 crore.
Terming the report 'unrealistic', the Cabinet members hoped that the final report of the census would come with the actual figure, otherwise they would face difficulties in implementing the plans and programmes of their ministries.
Agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury said that the number 14.23 crore did not correspond with the current figures of the domestic demand for food and of the total production and import of foodgrains.
'If the population is 14.23 crore, we should have a large surplus of food because of our total production and import,' Matia told New Age, adding that Cabinet members would try to learn more details of the preliminary findings of the census.
She said that the total demand for food proved that there was a wide gap between the census's figure and the real population.
The agriculture minister also said that last year's domestic production and import of foodgrains could meet the demand of more than 16 crore people.
'The real statistics are essential for everything, including measuring the demand for food,' said Matia, adding that she was still hopeful of getting the actual figure in the final report of the census.
Food minister Abdur Razzak told New Age that lack of a realistic assessment of the size of the population would obstruct the government from importing the right amount of foodgrains.
'There is no consistency between the country's consumption of food and the preliminary census's assessment of the size of the population,' said Razzak, adding that the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies has been asked to make its final report realistic.
Commerce minister Faruk Khan echoed his fellows and said that the actual size of the population was very important for the export-import trade and domestic business and commerce.
'I hope the number will be increased in the final report of the census,' Faruk Khan told New Age.
The commerce minister, however, said that as the census was a technical subject, it was difficult to judge the preliminary report before getting the final report.
The preliminary findings of the Population and Housing Census 2011 were released on July 16 at a press conference in the capital.
The report said that the country's population was now 14.23 crore, which was only 1.8 crore higher than the population of one decade back.
It also said that the annual growth rate was 1.34 per cent and the number of people living in every square kilometre was 964.
Source : New Age
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