ISLAMABAD: Impressed with its progress, a Senate committee on Tuesday directed the Punjab Information Technology Board to assist other provinces in catching up.

The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology was told that all fields including e-learning, health, agriculture, police stations, e-stamps and e-systems are now linked digitally.

“Through the e-system, 110 offices can connect via conference calls simultaneously. This service helped the government save Rs290 million in travelling and dining allowances,” Punjab IT Board Director Sajid Latif told the committee.

Board has linked all fields digitally including health, agriculture, crime records, stamps

“For proper implementation of development initiatives, 250 cost centres have also been established,” he said adding that other than linking the e-systems in Punjab with the National Database and Registration Authority’s data base, talks were underway to connect with the Federal Board of Revenue as well. Punjab can also share its criminal records with Sindh and vice versa.

“Since 2015, the Government of Punjab has assisted more than two million people through the Khidmat Centres, with issuance of documentations such as marriage certificates, domiciles and character certificates besides a dozen other services,” Mr Latif said, and that these centres were operational in Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi.

Punjab is the only province to introduce e-stamp papers after making amendments in the law.

“Last year alone, the Government of Punjab sold 3.6 million e-stamps worth Rs98 billion,” Mr Latif said.

Members described the Punjab IT Board as exemplary and urged that the system of e-stamping should also be introduced in the federal capital as well as other provinces.

“The entire effort by Punjab is ideal. However, we hope that the entire systems are protected through firewalls to prevent hackers from accessing important and sensitive information especially from foreign countries,” PPP Senator Rehman Malik said.

Members also insisted that all provinces make efforts to introduce PayPal in Pakistan particularly to assist freelancers who face numerous problems. They also emphasized on better coordination between the provinces.

While the committee understood lack of progress by the IT Board of Balochistan particularly due to shortage of funds, Sindh IT Board was criticised for lagging and slacking.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2018