PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has said that government is taking pragmatic measures to introduce information technology in provision of services.

He said that the provincial government was leveraging technology to simplify and improve life of people.

He was talking to journalists at a ceremony held here on Wednesday for signing a memorandum of understanding between government and the ride-hailing service Careem Pakistan.

A statement issued here said that people in provincial capital would be able to contact Rescue 1122 through the ride-hailing service app to book ambulance and fire brigade tenders.

Ruscue 1122, Careem sign MoU

“The signing of MoU is the first initiative of its kind in the country. It will provide citizens with access to emergency services using a simple mobile application. We are working on digitalisation of services, which is not only time efficient but will also provide cheap services to citizens at their doorsteps,” said the chief minister.

The MoU was signed at Chief Minister Secretariat here and the ceremony was attended by Minister for Finance Taimur Jhagra, special assistant to chief minister on information technology Kamran Khan Bangash, secretary relief, rehabilitation and settlement department Mohammad Abid Majeed, co-founder and CEO of Careem Pakistan Muddasir Sheikha and other officials.

As per the MOU, all existing Rescue 1122 ambulances and fire brigade vehicles will be on boarded on the online application through separate emergency services Customer Car Type (CCT).

All drivers of ambulances and fire brigade vehicles will be trained by the private cab service company about the use of the online application.

Mr Khan said that the initiative would help to improve the response time of Rescue 1122 in Peshawar. He said that the service would be extended to the entire province to save precious lives through tech enabled solutions.

The chief minister was also briefed on the ongoing initiatives of the relief and rehabilitation department, including establishment of Rescue 1122 stations in Lower Kohistan, Malakand, Shangla and Lakki Marwat. The schemes will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs1.282 billion.

Similarly, two emergency stations are also being established in two tribal districts and one in the frontier region. The schemes will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs3670 million for which Rs2.5 billion has already been released and work is in progress on establishment of Rescue 1122 station in Jamrud, Khyber tribal district.

The chief minister was informed that tourist outreach station were also being established in Kalam and Naran.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2019