ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information Technology and the Ministry of Religious Affairs on Wednesday finalised the mechanism to digitise the Haj operation from next year.

The decision was taken at a meeting of a special committee, which was co-chaired by caretaker IT minister Dr Umar Saif and caretaker minister for religious affairs Aneeq Ahmed. The committee was constituted on the prime minister’s directives.

At the meeting, Mr Ahmed highlighted the need to upgrade the existing system related to Haj operations, and stressed for adopting technology in day-to-day affairs. He said it would not only help the authorities to respond to any complaint but help the system to obtain genuine feedback from the pilgrims.

The meeting was briefed by officials concerned about the system used so far in Haj operations. The participants of the meeting noted that digitisation of the Haj operation would help the pilgrims obtain information regarding relevant developments and even allow the authorities to address the complaints at the earliest.

Mr Saif said that as per the directives of the PM, a smartphone application and web portal would be developed while the whole Haj operation would be digitised to have independent reviews from the pilgrims.

The phone application for the Haj pilgrims would be built on similar lines as the leading platforms in dealing with housing and hospitality businesses.

The application will help the pilgrims to give their feedback digitally regarding Haj operations and facilities.

Mr Saif directed the National Information Technology Board (NITB) to upgrade the existing system of Haj operations, in coordination with the relevant officers of the Ministry of Religious Affairs to monitor the system.

Later in another development the Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong called on Mr Saif at his office and discussed how Pakistan can benefit from Chinese technology.

They also discussed how China could help Pakistan move forward in emerging domains of electric vehicles and batteries, chip manufacturing and telecom infrastructure.

They also tal­k­ed about how Pakistani IT firms and start-ups could tap into the huge Chinese market and how Pakistani academia could collaborate with world-class varsities in China.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2023