Alvi wants expedited process of developing EVMs

Islamabad : President Dr. Arif Alvi on Thursday asked the Ministry of Science and Technology and other concerned organisations to expedite the process of developing Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with advanced security features to ensure transparency in the electoral process.

He underscored the need for introducing e-voting system in the country which, he said, would not only facilitate overseas Pakistanis but would also improve the efficiency and various other aspects of the electoral process. The president made these remarks while chairing a meeting of sub-committee on Emerging Technologies on e-voting, here at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication (IT&T) Syed Amin ul Haque, Minister for Railways Senator Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, Minister for Science and Technology (S&T) Senator Shibli Faraz, Secretary M/o IT&T Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Acting Chairman NADRA Brig (R) Khalid Latif, Director General IT Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Khizer Aziz, and senior officials of the government attended the meeting.

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Senator Shibli Faraz briefed the meeting about the measures taken by his ministry with regard to manufacturing of EVMs.

He informed that COMSATS, National Institute of Engineering (NIE) and National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) were jointly working to produce a prototype of EVM which would be ready shortly. The President stressed the need that the security of the equipment and various processes involved have to be fool-proof, user-friendly and transparent to ensure credibility of the entire electoral process.

The meeting agreed that NADRA would facilitate e-voting under the umbrella of ECP. It was also agreed to hold meetings on weekly basis to review the progress on e-voting and EVMs. The President appreciated the efforts of M/o Science and Technology for developing a prototype of EVM.

Later in a meeting with Adviser to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan on the parliamentary matters, President Dr Arif Alvi said that the digitisation of the parliament would help improve the performance of the legislature.

He said the parliamentary affairs could be disposed of swiftly and effectively through a parliament equipped with cyber capabilities. Babar Awan also appreciated President Alvi’s role in the process of online voting as well as the electoral reforms. He said being part of it, the president took interest in day to day matters of the parliament.