LAHORE: The use of modern technology is the need of the hour for successful policing, said Inspector General of Punjab Police Arif Nawaz.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the E-Filing and Office Automation System (e-FOAS) and Shaheed Zahid Gondal Police Facilitation Centre at DIG Operations Office.
The E-FOAS is part of the project of the Punjab government to introduce a paperless work environment at 10 government departments, including the police. The system was introduced in collaboration with the Punjab Information and Technology Board (PITB). According to the system, a software has been prepared that would be made available to all the employees working at the DIG Office. They would use the system for all office work and correspondence.
Speaking on the occasion, Nawaz said the use of information technology and launching of e-the filing system as a pilot project at DIG Operations Office was commendable as it was an important step to lessen the burden of case files. A huge amount of money, being spent annually under the head of stationery, would be saved through the e-filing system and now citizens would not have to carry files and papers, he added.
PITB Chairperson Dr Umar Saif said that Lahore police were keen to adopt new technology, while Punjab has set a precedent for other provinces. The introduction of e-FOAS would not only minimise the use of stationery, but would also help officials monitor all the paperwork. “We hope and foresee that these systems are implemented in various other departments across the province and Pakistan.”
He said that IT-based initiatives of Lahore police were also being replicated by other provinces. A five-member team of PITB was visiting Sindh on request of the southern province’s chief minister to help police replicate these projects.
Meanwhile, IGP Arif Nawaz chaired a meeting at Central Police Office (CPO). Additional IGs of operations, investigations, discipline and inquiry, special branch and other officers also attended the meeting.
They decided to monitor welfare policy of all the districts at CPO to solve problems faced by heirs and relatives of the martyred police officers on a preferential basis. The IGP declared it mandatory for all DPOs to visit with families of the martyred at least once. Nawaz also directed officials to replicate the Welfare Eye App which aimed to take care of welfare of families of the martyred police officials by Lahore police in other districts as well.
(Tribune)
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