PM emphasizes on more IT use to move towards ‘paperless govt’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed to increase the use of information technology to save precious resources and move towards paperless government.

He issued these directions during the Federal Cabinet meeting.

Ahead of the elections on July 4, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had launched its first major digital policy aimed at transforming Pakistan into a knowledge economy, making Information Technology the top contributor to country’s exports and job creation.

Announcing the policy, Asad Umar had said the policy was formulated after consultations with the IT industry and others stakeholders. He said the policy was open and people could give their inputs which would be incorporated in the revise policy.

He said PTI’s vision for a digital Pakistan would not only create an unprecedented amount of jobs in the IT sector, but also become an enabler for transforming the rest of the economy.

Meanwhile during the Cabinet meeting, the prime minister said that a vibrant tourism policy would be introduced and beaches, coastal areas and northern parts of the country would be the main focus of development for tourism.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Energy Umer Ayub said total debt of Pakistan increased from Rs 15,000 billion in 2013 to Rs 29,000 billion in 2018.

The previous government left the energy sector in crisis and the circular debt rose to Rs 640 billion, he added. He said the transmission system did not have the capacity to carry more than 19,000 megawatt of electricity and many areas faced load shedding and low voltage in the summer months.

The PML-N government had set up power projects, he said, but did not make investment in upgradation of transmission and distribution system and also did not arrange for the working capital for the energy projects set up by it leaving “landmines” for the new government. The previous government lost election due to bad performance, he added.