CHAKWAL: Four months after its conception, the Chakwal district government website has continued to display false information.

Following the promulgation of the long overdue Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act by the Punjab government in December, all district chiefs have been directed to launch websites for their respective district governments to provide adequate information to citizens.

However, after a haphazard launch and lack of competent employees, most websites were instead filled with inaccurate copied-and-pasted information. For instance, the Chakwal district government website is packed with false information, even months after it was launched.

The website – www.chakwal.gop.pk – was launched by Chakwal’s former district coordination officer (DCO) Yawar Hussain on February 26.

The welcoming note, from DCO Hussain, on the website read, “It gives me immense pleasure to launch the district government Chakwal website. Moderation in governance is handicapped without the support of IT. An important tool therein is the dissemination of information through electronic means. It will increase our internal efficiency to monitor the public service delivery about the government functionaries. It will be an important tool for uploading and downloading important information for the private and government departments in Punjab. I believe this website will provide information to the public as well as constructive feedback. I give best wishes for the success of this website.”

Former DCO Hussain was transferred during the last week of March and Asif Bilal Lodhi took charge as the DCO. Website management then removed the photograph of Hussain from the above message, and replaced it with a picture of DCO Lodhi, thereby giving the impression that the website was launched not by Hussain but by DCO Lodhi.

In addition, the ‘contact us/complaints’ section also features a barrage of inaccurate information.The site refers to the district police officer (DPO) of Chakwal as Ahmed Aslam Malik, someone who has never served in the district, while the current DPO is Dr Moeen Masood.The website also states that DCO Chakwal is Yawar Hussain, despite his transfer in March. Upon checking the ‘district courts’ section, it was found that the district and sessions judge is listed as Mukarab Ali Khan, even though Khan was transferred a year ago, and the new judge, Sardar Tahir Sabir, has also been transferred.

A deputy district officer (DDO) in the education department, Zameer Aftab, who passed away months ago, is also currently listed on the website, while the executive district officer (EDO) education is listed as Dr Ghulam Rabbani when actually it is Dr Ghulam Murtaza.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2014