Punjab health survey data sparks security concerns

By Kashif Malik

​LAHORE – A potential threat to national integrity has surfaced under the guise of a health census, sounding alarm bells in the corridors of power and security agencies. According to sources, the Department of Health and Population, in collaboration with the World Bank, has allegedly granted global organizations access to the complete data of Punjab’s 125.8 million population and sensitive institutions under the multi-billion rupee ‘Community Outreach Initiative (COI)’ program.

Sources revealed that Secretary Health and Population Nadia Saqib facilitated the inclusion of this sensitive information into the app, bypassing standard security protocols.

​For this mega digital drive, 60,000 Community Health Inspectors (CHIs) have been equipped with modern digital tablets for fieldwork. Across the province, these inspectors are not only gathering detailed personal data—including names of heads of households, employment, professions, vehicles, agricultural landholdings, and individual family member details—but are also generating and uploading online ‘Polygon’ locations through satellite mapping. This system will effectively provide the World Bank with unhindered access down to every street and building across the province.

Sources disclosed that alongside the general populace, sensitive institutions and military cantonments have also been marked in this digital drive, posing a profound and critical security risk to national defense and integrity.

The biggest revelation to surface is that the inclusion of polygon locations via geo-tagging was carried out at the behest of an international NGO. Furthermore, the software responsible for collecting this highly sensitive national data of over 120 million citizens was handed over to a third-party private vendor rather than a government entity, with the vendor’s identity and contract details being kept strictly confidential.
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According to security and defense experts, granting any foreign entity, NGO, or private vendor access to the detailed profiling of over 120 million individuals, along with satellite and polygon mapping of the country’s defense and sensitive installations, is tantamount to compromising national sovereignty.

Following these sensational revelations, deep concern has spread through security circles, prompting urgent demands for an immediate security audit of the project.