ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has given deadline of March 20, 2025 to the ministries/Divisions to achieve 100 percent e-office usage, including inter-ministerial correspondence, well-informed sources told Business Recorder.
The secretary, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication briefed the Cabinet on e-Office usage in the federal government. He noted that the Cabinet, in its decision of January 14, 2025 had given the MoIT&T responsibility for the achievement of the following goals:
(i) all Divisions must ensure 100% intra-ministerial e-Office adoption;
(ii) all inter-ministerial correspondence shall exclusively be conducted through e-Office; and
(iii) all attached departments/SOEs shall use e-Office for correspondence.
With reference to 100% e-Office adoption by all Divisions, a listing of Divisions in percentage terms of e-Office usage in January 2025 was presented to the Cabinet in December 2024.
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The data showed that out of a total of 43 Divisions, 23 had achieved 100 percent usage in both December 2024 and January 2025; 12 that were at 90 percent or above in December 2024 were now at 100 percent; 2 that were above 80 percent and 70 percent in December 2024 were at 100 percent now.
The Ministry of Water Resources showed a large leap from 16:80 percent in December 2024 to 100 percent in January 2025; 2 Divisions that were above 80 percent and 70 percent, respectively, in December 2024 were 90 percent and above in January 2025.
Similarly, Defense Production Division, had increased from 26.90 percent in December 2024 to 40.20 percent in January 2025. However, Revenue Division which was at 97.50 percent in December 2024, had dropped to 83 percent in January 2025.
The Cabinet was further apprised of the status of inter-ministerial correspondence which showed that out of 43 Divisions, 21 Divisions were fully using e-Office, 6 were above 90 percent, another 6 above 70 percent, and yet another 6 above 50 percent; 2 were above 30 percent whereas the water Resources Division and Defence production Division were at 20 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
The prime minister appreciated the role of the top performing ministries/ divisions and expressed concern on the inefficiency of the others who were lagging behind. He stated that the ambit of inter-ministerial correspondence should include linking autonomous bodies and attached departments on e-Office and advised the Minister for Establishment to follow up on expanding e-Office usage to autonomous bodies and attached departments.
Some Cabinet members observed that digitalisation was not an end in itself, but a means to an end which was to improve government efficiency and outcomes. Another Member stated that the Human Resource part of digitalisation was being assessed by the committee constituted to improve government efficiency.
Some Cabinet Members also highlighted the issues faced by Pakistan’s Missions abroad regarding online facilities and availability of digitised documents for Overseas Pakistanis and others applying for visa or related facilities.
The prime minister directed the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication to provide support to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the digitalisation of the services and facilities provided by the Missions abroad.
After detailed discussion the Cabinet took the following decisions: (i) all ministries/Division should achieve 100 e-Office usage, including inter-ministerial correspondence by March 20, 2025 ; (ii) all SOEs, attached departments and regulatory authorities must ensure adoption of e-Office ; and (iii) the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication shall provide support to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the digitalisation of the services and facilities being provided by Pakistan’s Mission abroad.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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