ISLAMABAD, Dec 24: The information technology and Telecommunication Division has launched a Rs37 million project to develop websites for 35 government divisions.

A press release issued in this regard on Monday said, under the project being executed by the IT Commission, a website portal for the government would be established.

The project aims at ensuring improvement in delivery of information and services to general public within and outside the country, increasing the government’s efficiency, minimising cost of its functioning, and increasing the level of transparency in official transactions.

Electronic government is one of the four major components of the IT action plan. It is also a gigantic task that can be undertaken by adopting a modular approach.

Extensive research has been undertaken by the IT Commission since October 2000 for E-government programme. The purpose of the study was to find out the requirement of various divisions for problem solving and services related to citizens.

The rules of business and various other rules and regulations, under which the government operates, have been analyzed in detail. Equally, the value of E-government as a contributor to the national economy has also been given due attention.

The Electronic Government Task Force (EGTF), set up by the government, received input from 133 resource persons belonging to 35 federal divisions/organizations. In addition to this, extensive research has been done on the E-governments to enable its successful implementation in the country. The E-government Project Director (EGPD), a wing of Information Technology Commission (ITC), finalized the programme in the light of input received from different sources.

The master E-government project has been divided into multiple short-term and long-term projects. It will be completed in a period of three to five years.

The web sites created under the project would contain useful information for all potential users at both domestic and international levels. The information will include organizational details, rules and procedures, and downloadable forms and data of interest to the general public.

The portal will be developed to link the sites. Through this portal, the user will be able to access information about ministries, Haj, educational institutions and different government forms. Approximately, 3,500 forms will be posted on the database.

The NTC has officially been designated for hosting services of E-government projects, and is in the process of setting up ISP and hosting services that will be in place by February. Websites will be hosted in Pakistan after having appropriate security issues resolved.