Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan, while stressing the need of introduction of digital technologies in various government departments, has said that the e-governance can help the government to improve accountability and public service delivery system.
He expressed these views after a briefing given by Director General Information Technology board Dr. Khalid Rafiique on the scope and limitations to computerize the state government departments.
Lauding the endeavors of Information Technology Board to introduce new technologies in Azad Kashmir, he said that the digitization on one hand will ensure transparency, improvement in the policing system, ensure transparency in land record and on other hand it will provide relief to the people and enhance their confidence in the system.
The AJK president said that the launching of tourist web portal and application would facilitate the tourists and give an enormous boost to tourism sector in the liberated state.
He directed the officials of information technology department to collaborate with the state health department to introduce e -health or tele-medicine system in Azad Kashmir so as to link the people living in remote mountainous areas with the modern medical facilities in and out of the country.
He said adding that tele-medicine system can also reduce the expenditure on establishment of public health infrastructure in remote areas.If this system becomes fully operational, patients of remote areas can have access to the physicians sitting in modern hospitals in the big Pakistani cities and any part of the world.
Sardar Masood Khan directed the information technology department to prepare itself to welcome the technologies currently in the pipeline so that we are able to go along the developed world.
Earlier, in his briefing, Dr. Khalid Rafiq told the AJK president that the entire land revenue record has been computerized in three tehsils of the liberated territory as pilot project, and the issuance of driving license, and the whole record of the Supreme Court, High Court and the sub-ordinate judiciary has been linked with the computer system in order to provide relief to judicial officers, lawyers and their clients. At the same time, seven video-conferencing centers have been established for swift coordination among the officials of various departments of e-governance.
He said besides, establishing interactive sites for the e-governance departments and e -facilitation center in Muzaffarabad, work has been done on the automation of Public Service Commissions to enhance people’s confidence in these departments.
A technology enable initiative has also been taken to digitize the data of non- state subjects, hotels, private guest houses, property owners and real estate agents to improve security system in the state.
On this occasion, the AJK president proposed to conduct feasibility of turning Jhelum valley of Azad Kashmir into a Silicon Valley.