THE online FIR system launched by the KP government is an innovative step that will ease the lives of everyday citizens.

However, a recent report said about 1,277 FIRs were registered online in the first two days, of which only 70 were genuine.

These figures are a bit alarming because the time and resources needed to filter genuine vs bogus must be time-consuming.

In order to streamline the online FIR system in KP to overcome bogus/fake FIR, I have a few quick suggestions:

Instead of giving public access to the online form that anyone can fill, ‘swift FIR centres’ can be opened with multiple PCs in each centre where non-political educated staff can be employed.

People can walk in, show their original CNIC and access the ‘booths’ which will have a basic PC with a bar code scanner, a camera and the online FIR form From this booth people can swipe their CNIC (bar code scanning) or photo scan their CNIC and type in the FIR details via the online FIR form. A camera can also be activated so the person registering the FIR is captured.

Because of various checks, this system will ensure that only serious people will lodge FIRs Worth mentioning is that the same system can be enhanced as a model for electronic voting system after a few minor changes.

KAMRAN PARACHAIslamabad