Typing his family's details on a laptop in his office, father-of-two Muhammad Saqib looked particularly excited as Pakistan is using a digital census system for the first time.
According to Reuters, a portal was launched last week during a ceremony in Islamabad to register in this way.
After optional self-registration, data will be stored for one month from more than 120,000 enumerators using tablets and mobiles from March 1. Its organizers say it will make the process more accurate, transparent, and credible.
In many countries around the world, from the US to Estonia, population statistics are collected digitally, which also reduces costs and reduces the potential for errors.
Funding for seats in Pakistan's parliament as well as basic services such as schools and hospitals is based on population statistics, but there have been some allegations by some groups expressing doubt on previous statistics.
Human rights activists say the digital census should also include all groups that were left out last time or were not counted properly, such as transgenders and minorities.
Asim Bashir Khan, a census expert, and an economist associated with the Karachi Institute of Business Administration says he was surprised to see that the population of some densely populated areas of Karachi was not included in the 2017 census.
According to him, a large number of people were not counted where they lived but were shown where they had their identity cards. This resulted in inaccurate statistics. Where they used the resources, their number was less and where they did not use them, more numbers appeared.
Social activists say that in the 2017 census, transgenders were counted for the first time and only 10,418 transgenders were registered in the population of 208 million, later this count was increased to 21 thousand. However, this is an underestimate.
Qamar Naseem, the founder of Blue Vans, an organization working for transgender rights, says that transgender people reject these statistics.
According to him, "Persons with disabilities were not counted correctly."
Regarding digital counting, officials say it will make it easier to identify and correct errors and irregularities.
Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal says that 'digital census will ensure transparency with the cooperation of provinces and bring reliable results.'
"For one month, 126,000 enumerators wearing green jackets will count every person in Pakistan using secure tablets," he told Reuters.
"Its advantages include reliable data, accurate monitoring, and complete coverage of remote areas," says Mohammad Sarwar Gondal, spokesperson of the Bureau of Statistics.