LAHORE: The Punjab government will expand the scope of e-Pay Punjab, a payment gateway that allows people to pay taxes digitally through alternative delivery channels, by adding more government departments/levies to its portfolio to facilitate both the citizens and the departments.
Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Chairman Faisal Yousaf expressed these views while talking to the Business Recorder on Saturday. He pointed out that the country’s financial ecosystem has grown in size and become more complex over time, and thus the government has been particularly keen on adopting technology solutions to facilitate both the citizens and businesses. “The e-Pay Punjab, one of the key initiatives of the government, digitises the financial ecosystem of the province,” he added.
According to him, citizens can now make online payments of 30 levies/taxes of 12 government departments through e-Pay Punjab. This initiative has contributed significantly to improving collections, citizen convenience and inclusion. Citizens can pay several taxes, including token tax, property tax, sales tax, traffic challan and e-challan, from the convenience of their own homes. The intervention has also kept the agent mafia at bay while ensuring an efficient and transparent experience,” he said.
Talking about the Punjab IT policy, he averred that the government envisions Information Technology as a vehicle for transforming the province into a knowledge-based, economically vibrant, democratic and inclusive society. “Our vision is that Punjab becomes the top e-governed, IT-enabled and e-literate province in the region as well as making imagines Punjab as a preferred destination for global IT businesses and a major supplier of skilled IT human resources to the entire world. Thus, our policy revolves around five pillars: support to the industry, bridging the digital divide, e-governance, citizen-centric services and entrepreneurship,” he added.
According to him, to support the local IT industry and create an environment conducive to growth, the government has taken various steps, including digitising the relevant approvals, which include permits to start new businesses under PITB’s ease of doing business initiatives, acquiring hassle-free warehouse construction permits from e-Khidmat Markaz, tax exemptions for telecoms sector and IT businesses; construction of technology parks and knowledge parks, and facilitation in setting up a new industry in any of the industrial zones in Punjab through One Window Service Centres (OWSC). Similarly, the government has introduced several schemes, including the establishment of e-Rozgaar Centres across Punjab, the formation of e-libraries and the availability of online textbooks under the e-learn programme to bridge the digital divide across different segments of society.
He pointed out that e-governance was the main pillar of their IT policy, which included the computerisation of all police stations in Punjab; the creation of Police Khidmat Centres across Punjab; automation of the criminal record office; implementation of hospital management information system in 17 PESSI Hospitals and five tertiary hospitals; verification of attendance of doctors and paramedics through biometric attendance system; supervision of the health, education, agriculture, livestock and irrigation field staff through SIM enabled phones and tablets; collection of government receipts in a transparent and accountable manner; implementation of e-filing and office automation systems in different public sector entities; and up-gradation of the development budget making and monitoring through Smart Monitoring of Development Projects (SMDP).
He believed that the young segment of the population can be a huge asset if appropriately trained in modern digital skills to enhance their employability; thus, the PITB has undertaken several initiatives like the e-Rozgaar Training Programme, National Freelance Training Programme (NFTP), SheWins, Plan9 and National Expansion Plan of National Incubation Centres (NEP NICs) to facilitate the youth not only in Punjab but across Pakistan.
“We will be particularly focusing on significantly expanding the outreach of PITB’s e-Rozgaar and National Freelance Training Programme (NFTP) to train as many young as possible and enable them to contribute to Pakistan’s economy. The PITB will continue to support and nurture the start-up ecosystem in Punjab. Our endeavours include incubation programmes, funding opportunities, and mentorship initiatives to foster innovation and entrepreneurship,” he said.
He also outlined how the construction industry benefited from the information and communication technology interventions in Punjab. “The PITB has facilitated the industry by digitizing 36 construction-related services; citizens can apply online to avail services like approval of private housing schemes, building plan approval, change of land use, completion certificate, and these services are also available at the 13 e-Khidmat Centres across the province Digitization has massively improved citizen convenience and transparency of the process.”
“To facilitate overseas Pakistanis, Police Khidmat Markaz Global was launched by the Punjab police in collaboration with PITB; this online portal enables over 9 million overseas Pakistanis in 27 countries to secure six police-related documents, including Character and a copy of FIR from the Pakistani embassy in their host country,” he added.
Shedding some light on the future roadmap of PITB, he said that their focus remains on several key areas and initiatives that align with our mission of fostering innovation and digitisation of public service delivery. “We will be focusing on taking public services to the doorsteps of citizens digitally to minimise direct interface between citizens and state officials,” he added.
“We will also work on programmes to promote digital literacy and ensure that all segments of society can participate in the digital economy. Moreover, as technology advances, so do cyber-security challenges and hence, we will strengthen our efforts to protect government systems and data from cyber threats, ensuring the security and privacy of citizens’ information,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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