Provincial Govt Urged To Update Departments' Dormant Websites

The citizens on Tuesday urged the quarters concerned to fix its public sector departments' websites that had been dormant for the last decade, contradicting the provincial government's claim to digitization

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Oct, 2019 ) :The citizens on Tuesday urged the quarters concerned to fix its public sector departments' websites that had been dormant for the last decade, contradicting the provincial government's claim to digitization.

They said website visitors were facing inconvenience due to unavailability of fresh information as the authorities concerned did not updated it since many years.

Umer Khan, a visitor of Excise department website said he had visited excise office five times just to pay its vehicle token tax as token schedule was not available on the website.

In this modern age, when there were several modes for the communication, he said the authorities concerned were still paying no heed to that issue.

Rehmat Ullah, a journalist said that the government is unable to provide two-way communication between the citizens and the government institutions to know about their grievances and get feedback.

The Article 19-A of the Constitution of Pakistan says that every citizen shall have the right to access to information in all matters of public importance, he added.

The provincial government should bring reforms and update the public sector department's websites to provide maximum relief and information to the masses, he said.

Talking to APP, Zahir Baloch, a civil servant said it is comparatively easy to provide digital services to those living in urban areas of the province.

However, keeping in view importance of websites as an integrated part of public service delivery mechanism, there is a need to increase the scope and expand outreach of the websites, he said.

The real challenge is to ensure across the board availability of information through digital means to rural areas and remote corners of the Province, he added.

Khalil Lashari, a youth looking for a job said people of the province face difficulties in knowing about the departmental jobs, in submitting applications and did not get information about short listing of candidates, merit lists, the date of interviews and final order on websites. He said that if the government developed proper information highways and portals, it will save the amount to be spent on physically providing the same services besides reducing the burden on public highways.

Israr Asghar, a social activist said technology is a double-edged weapon in terms of creating inequalities. It is a godsend opportunity to empower everyone, but those who are totally illiterate, are likely to remain the worst affected.