The Minister for Finance Punjab Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bhakht said this while addressing an event on achieving Rs 100 billion revenues through e-Stamping, a joint project of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and Board of Revenue Punjab here on Monday.
He also said that the government would strive hard to achieve the targets of e-procurement and e-payment during the next five years. There was a need to give special attention to IT sector in the phase-2 of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he urged.
He said that it was the start of a new journey and a testament of economic activity undertaken by PITB, a very prestigious institution, which was institutionally driven rather than personality driven. IT intervention was the only way forward to catalyze the environment where youth could be absorbed and accommodated, he added.
The minister further said that revenue collection worth Rs 100 billion through e-Stamping system was the historic moment for Government of the Punjab and the best example of utilizing Information Technology for the betterment of the general public as well as improving the governance.
"We were determined to provide comfortable environment to the private sector for economic activities as the government was promoting innovative ideas to keep the economy on right track," he added.
He said that despite of having enormous economic challenges inherited, the present government was striving actively to achieve maximum growth, low inflationary environment and economic stability in the country. IT interventions were essential and much needed in all sectors and specifically for improving overall efficiency of government machinery, he added.
The minister further said that it was also the vision of the present government to promote IT sector by utilizing its full potential and attracting best human resource as the implementation of e-Stamping shows that how much potential there's once we have streamlined the processes and implemented the IT interventions. A significant increase in government revenue has been witnessed as compared to last year through e-Stamping initiative.
The Chairman PITB, Habib-ur-Rehman Gilani said that PITB was a success story among Punjab government departments and the use of Information Technology as an enabler was a key for better management & governance. Information Technology was a cross cutting and equally important for all sectors of economy vertically and horizontally while the present government was paying special attention on IT sector, he added.
The chairman PITB presented a symbolic cheque of Rs 100 billion to the Finance Minister.
Sajid Latif, Director General PITB informed that PITB's flagship project e-Stamping has achieved remarkable results.
The operation launched in 2016 has fetched Rs 100 billion proceeds in 19 months. A number of 5,364,934 people utilized the e-Stamping website while 5,028,452 vouchers were paid and a number of 3,730,198 e-Stamp papers were issued, in which the number of judicial stamp issued is 320,322 and non-judicial stamp issued is 3,409,876. The e-Stamping system is online and any person desirous of purchasing high value non-judicial or judicial stamp can access the system by a simple internet connection.
In Punjab, PITB has established a partnership with various line departments, helping them conceive, implement and institutionalize IT-driven reforms. In many instances, these projects have entailed a significant re-working of old processes, requiring patience and resolve at all levels of government to ultimately achieve successful implementation.