13 ministries to have e-filing system soon

ISLAMABAD: After successful conversion of over 6,000 files to e-government by the Ministry of Information Technology, the government has decided to replicate this model in all ministries/divisions and attached departments in a phased manner over the next two years.
“In the first phase, we will replicate e-government in 13 selected ministries/divisions including the PM Office during the current fiscal year. After converting all ministries/divisions and attached departments, the rules of business for running the government will be amended to make electronic files legal documents,” the Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rahman said while briefing reporters here at the ministry’s office on Friday.
The minister said that Pakistan was the first among the SAARC countries to implement a paperless government. The minister said that foolproof security was placed to ensure protection from hackers’ attacks and update of security mechanism would remain a permanent feature of this newly built system. She said that the government has developed software at the cost of Rs38 million and it was being run on dedicated optical fiber cable developed by the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC).
She said that the work of digitizing ministries was underway and so far 11,275 files were converted to e-government’s software.
The minister was of the view that drafting notes could not be changed or amended and this paperless environment would ensure transparency and accountability in the decision-making process.
She said that after putting in place e-government at the federal level, they would offer the provinces to replicate it under their jurisdictions. All the four provinces, she said, had shown interest in implementing this paperless environment.
The minister said that the E-office Suite consists of six modules including e-filing module. In the first phase, E-office suite is being implemented in 13 Ministries/Divisions/ Departments including the Ministry of Information Technology, PM Office, National Assembly Secretariat, Ministry of Science & Technology, Finance Division and Planning Division, Establishment Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cabinet Division, Economic Affairs Division (EAD), Ministry of Railways, Commerce and Interior.
Subsequently, it will be implemented in the remaining 24 ministries/divisions in the second phase including Defence Production, National Health Services, Industries & Production, Petroleum & Natural Resources, Water & Power, Board of Investment, Revenue Division, Education & Training, Textile Division, Climate Change Division, Parliamentary Affairs Division, Communication Division, Overseas Pakistani & HRD Division, Law & Justice Division, Information & Broadcasting Division, Capital Administration, Religious Affairs Division, National Food Security Division, Kashmir Affairs Division, Inter-Provincial Coordination Division, Ports & Shipping Division, Aviation Division, Housing & Works Division and Statistics Division.
The E-office, she said, is the automation of core businesses of the government to ensure efficiency, accuracy, effectiveness and good governance, transparency and accountability in decision-making and delivery of efficient and cost-effective public services.
The Ministry of Information Technology has taken a step forward for not only designing and deploying an e-Office application but also for setting an example by replacing the conventional manual system with electronic system named as “e-Office/e-filing” in its ministry since July, 2015.
It is expected that entire federal government will adopt e-Office in their respective ministries within a short span of time, she maintained.
Chairman NTC Viqar Rashid Khan said that National Data Hoisting facility would be in place over the next four months. The optical fiber cable, he said, was already laid down in Islamabad to run this new system in an efficient manner.