THE Pakistani people are a benevolent lot who believe in the aphorism: ‘sharing is caring.’

This generosity, in fact, has become among one of the signature attributes of Pakistan, so much so that despite being a poor nation Pakistanis rank among the top ten nations of the world for philantrophy.

However, as Pakistanis, we need to deal with one problem, which if rectified, would impart efficiency and transparency to this whole enterprise of charity.

The problem is the absence of an online database from where the people could search for the needy in their neighbourhood, town, municipality and city. Consequently, charity from tens of thousands of citizens does not get disbursed properly.

Therefore, it falls upon the information technology practitioners in Pakistan —whether under the aegis of private, public or public-private initiative-- to develop a database, widget or application which can provide the afore mentioned information, after ensuring there is no room for chicanery, to all Pakistanis.

Such a database when available would embolden my philanthropic Pakistani brethren to do more for poverty eradication in the country. Consequently, these efforts would culminate into the perpetuation of peace, prosperity and development of our country.

Engr. Malik Muhammad Ahsan Tahir
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2019