KARACHI: Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecom Aminul Haque has offered government support to a teenage student of Karachi who despite meagre resources built his own messaging app.

JDC’s Zafar Abbas posted an emotional video on Facebook in which 15-year-old Nabeel Haider was seen showing him his ‘FF Family’ app that he built on the pattern of Whatsapp, using his near-obsolete laptop since his father was jobless for the past four years and he could not afford to buy him a new computer.

The video went viral on social media and, though there was some criticism of the app, an overwhelming majority of social media users praised the boy and demanded that the government do something for him so that his talent could not go waste.

On Sunday, IT & Telecom minister Haque met the boy along with officials of the Pakistan Software Export Board, National Incubation Centre and TelloTalk at the temporary headquarters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan in Bahadurabad.

An MQM-P press release said that the boy would be provided training at the National Incubation Centre under the IT ministry.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2021