PM Shehbaz sets deadline for ministries to go digital

PM orders ministries to digitise records

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed all federal ministries to complete the digitisation of their records and upload the data to a central national platform.

The move under Digital Nation Pakistan aims to improve public services, increase transparency and support economic growth.

The federal ministries digitisation plan will bring information from different government departments together in one place.

Chairing a review meeting on Thursday, the prime minister said the Pakistan digital government system could make services easier to access and improve coordination among departments.

He also stressed that the central national data platform could help reduce corruption, improve performance and make government offices more efficient.

How the central data platform will work

Under Digital Nation Pakistan, ministries will be required to organise their records and share relevant information through the central national data platform.

The system is expected to help departments access information more easily and reduce delays caused by separate record-keeping systems.

The government believes better data sharing could also help officials make decisions based on accurate and updated information. The federal ministries digitisation process is expected to support this goal.

Sharif cited the fuel subsidy scheme for deserving citizens as an example of how cooperation between government institutions could improve the delivery of public assistance.

Health and medicine records to go digital

The prime minister praised the Ministry of National Health Services for working with provincial governments to compile universal medical records.

He also welcomed the use of QR codes to help verify the quality of medicines supplied across Pakistan.

These steps are intended to improve access to medical information and strengthen checks on medicine quality.

Officials said the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication was working with other ministries to digitise important sectors, particularly health and agriculture. This is another part of the wider Pakistan digital government plan.

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Laws to become easier to access

The IT ministry is also working with the Ministry of Law to make relevant national laws available on a single digital platform.

This could help citizens, lawyers and government officials find legal information more easily.

The proposed central national data platform may also support future legislation by making existing laws more accessible in one place.

Three main areas of digitalisation

Officials said the Digital Nation Pakistan plan focuses on three areas: digital government services, a digital economy and digital public facilitation.

During the meeting, federal ministries presented updates on their services, performance and progress in sharing information with the central data centre.

Sharif directed ministries to complete the work within the prescribed deadlines and coordinate with provincial governments and other relevant institutions. The federal ministries digitisation plan will require cooperation across departments.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, IT Minister Shaza Fatima and other officials attended the meeting.