Punjab govt launches ‘paperless governance’

Lahore - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz launched "paperless governance" for her province on Thursday, announcing the establishment of e-FOAS, e-Procurement, e-Pay, e-Auction, OneMap, HRMIS and a data warehouse. At an online meeting, Chairperson of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Faisal Yousaf reported the progress in digitalization and automation.

The CM directed the PITB to procure paperless automation software and requested constant feedback from applicants. Nawaz stated that a fully automated paperless system would curb corruption and make government services more accessible by eliminating the need for people to visit offices for minor tasks. She added that providing services digitally without disclosing personal information would help curb corruption.

The CM emphasized that every sector, department and institution of Punjab is moving towards digitalization and automation. Over 6,000 systems were connected to the PITB's central system and 600 organizations were digitally linked through e-FOAS. The e-filing system issued 176,173 summary notices, saving Rs9.1 million. Smart monitoring of development projects also set a new benchmark for transparency in schemes.

More than 25,000 suppliers were linked with the province-wide e-procurement system, processing Rs6 trillion in digital purchases and 1.29 million tenders. E-procurement introduced a transparent, end-to-end tendering process, resulting in Rs1.3 million in savings and revenue collection of Rs1.137 billion.